Prince 1958-2016

In many ways I was more affected by the news of Prince's death than that of David Bowie. The biggest reason is timing.

Bowie was an established star, mega star even, before I got into music. Prince's career arc began to rise just as I was getting into music.
 
I probably have more Bowie Albums in the Phungo Collection, but they are more like historical documents to me. I played the grooves out of 1999 and Purple Rain. 

2004 08 23 Prince at the Wachovia Center Philadelphia

Once Prince became a star my interest waned, but I was very excited to see him on the Musicology tour at  the Wachovia Center.

I don't recall a lot about the show. and it is weird it feels like a recent show despite the fact that 2004 is over a decade ago. I suppose it is because at the time I was significantly closer to 40 than 30 and the process of giving into being a grown up was happening very quickly. Seeing Prince in 2004 is firmly ensconsed in the file of concerts I saw as an adult - no confusing it with seeing GnR, The Dead Milkment or Nine Inch Nails who all appeared at the latter edges of my misspent youth. 

A glance at the set list form the show refreshed my memory a bit.

The Wachovia Center is a good size arena and Row 2 of the Upper Tier was far away at times. The show was done in the round, Prince was "hidden" inside a box and snuck in below the stage emerging from beneath the center of the raised floor to open the show.

The concertw as broken into three pieces plus an encore. There was a full band for the shows opening and closing sections separated by a Prince solo set. Highlights from the show included "Lets Go Crazy" near the beginning of the show, Prince opening the solo with "Little Red Corvette",  and "7" at the top of the closing set. Prince highlighted the music of several other artists including a couple of Sheila E tunes, a solo version of the Stones "Satisfaction" and a cover of "Knock on Wood". The Three song encore concluded with a memorable "Purple Rain"

Maceo Parker opened the show and also played with Prince's band. A number of songs also prominently featured saxophonist Candy Dulfer

Sources and Links
Purple Cards - Night Owl Cards
Purple Cards - Phungo
VittlesTunes - Index of Music related posts
setlist
Candy Dulfer
Maceo Parker

Vittles OnStage

This is an Index of our Live Performance Related Postings including Music, Theater and Comedy

2014 10 18 Steve Poltz at Ardmore Music Hall


Theater
Toni Stone 2019 07 27

The Cherry Orchard 2015 02 12
The Elephant Man 2014 12 25 
Leaving 2010 06 xx

Comedy 
Bill Burr 2014 05 22
Gary Gulman 2014 12 13
Conan O'Brien 2014 05 22
Tig Notaro  2014 05 22
Janeane Garofalo 2015 07 08
Laura Kightlinger 2014 05 22

Book Signings/Author Events
Bill Conlin 1997 07 xx
Stefan Fatsis 2008 07 22 
Rob Fitts (Masanori Murakami bio) 2015 06 27
Charlaine Harris 2010 05 25
Tim McCarver 2008 08 21

Moneyball 

Music
VittlesTunes

They won't be making any more of these

Grateful Dead Tickets - well If the band remains retired after this weekends concerts in Chicago then yes there will never be another Grateful Dead ticket printed. 

I only saw the Grateful Dead once, that was in 1993.

 Concert Ticket Grateful Dead with Sting 1993 06 26

 I don't remember much of the show, fortunately we have the tremendous Live Music Archive so we can look back at these shows from over 20 years ago.  Looking back at the set list provided, I vaguely recall the 2nd set opener Iko Iko and the closing numbers. I also remember Bruce Hornsby being with the band and that being a big deal.

I love the fact that Sting is the opener. Can't imagine Mr Gordon Sumner has been the undercard more than a handful of times in the last 35 years.

Note the seat is Obstructed View, of course as you may be aware this means nothing at a dead show. We spent the entirety of the day on the floor at RFK. 


 
Concert Ticket Jerry Garcia Band 1993 11 16

This is a ticket from later in 1993. I saw Jerry Garcia Band twice, and preferred them to seeing the Dead. I have only run into my sister by accident once and it was at one of the two JGB shows I saw at the Spectrum. I distinctly remember the first set from this show and much of the latter - The Set list can be found here.

Concert Ticket Phish 2000 09 15

And one more ticket stub related to this past weekends festivities in Chicago. Trey Anastasio from Phish joined the Grateful Dead for their final shows this during the past week. I was fortunate to see his band play at HersheyPark Stadium 15 years ago.  I didn't know much about Phish's music at the time, but I am glad I saw them - They put on a fun show and I met some great folks.

sources and links
VittlesTunes
Internet Archive
Jerry Garcia

Performance for the Planet: Earth Day 1990

I have been to numerous festivals throughout my years of concert going. Many of these shows have been to raise awareness for various causes (with varying degrees of merit). 25 years ago on April 21 1990 I went to one to celebrate Earth Day. 

1991 ProSet Super Stars Bruce Hornsby

1990 Marked the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day. Which seemed like a pretty noteworthy accomplishment at the time. Today in 2015 we mark the 45th earth day,

This means we are now five years further removed from the 20th anniversary than that milestone was from the events inception. 

The 20th Anniversary Concert held at Columbia MDs Merriweather Post Pavillion featured at least a dozen acts including Bruce Hornsby who appears on the above trading card.

Year of the No-Hitter
A few weeks ago we mentioned Mark Langston starting a no-hitter (that was completed by teammate Mike Witt). While I was reading up on Langston I cam across an interesting piece of celebrity networking gossip. Langston and Bruce Hornsby are close friends. They met after a Range concert in Seattle.

When he was a free agent prior to the 1990 season Mark Langston checked in with Bruce Hornsby while scouting the Dodgers and Angels. The first phone call Langston got after pitching his no-hitter was from Bruce Hornsby.

Bruce Hornsby and the Range were not the only act involved in the Earth Day Concert.

1990 04 21 Performance for the Planet Lineup

The Earth Day show had to be one of the first that I had been to that had a program. Twenty-Five years later it makes for a fun read. Notable bands included Michelle Schocked, Billy Bragg, Baltimore Mainstay Crack The Sky, The Indigo Girls, Fabulous Thurnderbirds (featuring Steve Ray Vaughn's brother Jimmie, KRS-One, Ziggy Marley and 10,000 Maniacs

Sources and Links
Vittles Tunes - index of our Music related posts
1990: Year of the No-Hitter

LA Times
SI Between Lines 
Encyclopedia Britannica

Steve Poltz, John Kruk and Tony Gwynn at Ardmore Music Hall 2014 10 18

On Saturday Night Folksinger/Punk troubadour Steve Poltz brought his talents to the Ardmore Music Hall. I have seen Poltz roughly a dozen times dating back to the early 90s when he fronted the San Diego rock band the Rugburns.

He always gives a entertaining show and his latest performance did not disappoint.

2014 10 18 Steve Poltz at Ardmore Music Hall

The 54 year old Poltz put together a high energy set which spanned his solo career and even reached back to the Rugburns catalog for "Rub somebody the Right Way" and "Tree Hugger". There were at least three songs from his Mercury album "One Left Shoe" - "Silver Lining", "Impala" and "Everything About You" - Poltz mentioned his songwriting with Jewel a couple of times when referencing songs from this era.

Poltz filled his set with a number of funny stories about his life, career and music. When discussing "Silver Lining" he mentioned that he and John Kruk had become friends after Kruk discovered his name being referenced. Poltz said Krukker is supposed to be joining him in San Diego to go Surfing - imagine that. 

A few years back I got Steve to autograph this: 

1988 Topps #596 John Kruk (signed by Steve Poltz)  

I rank this one right up there with my Hall of Fame autographs. 

Steve is a pretty big baseball fan, he his friends with Giants Third Base Coach and fellow songwriter Tim Flannery and he has been involved in the sausage race hosted by the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Recently Poltz has written a song to honor Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Unfortunately Poltz didn't play the new Gwynn song, but I did get him to vogue with a Gwynn Card.

 

2014 10 18 Steve Poltz and 2009 UD Goodwin Champions #135 Tony Gwynn

Poltz tour will take him through the Mid-Atlantic and the southeast in the coming weeks. I recommend the show for fans of any type of music (or comedy). For locals he will be doing a 2nd area show - On Wednesday 10//22 he will be upstains at the Wilmington DE location of World Cafe Live Wilmington.  

Sources
imdb
Hi, I'm Steve Poltz
Tim Flannery

2013 15 04 - Erin McKeown's Anti-Holiday Spectacular @ Ardmore Music Hall

This past Wednesday Erin McKeown brought her Anti-Christmas Spectacular to the recently rebranded/refurbished Ardmore Music Hall. The night was a great fun and I look forward to the show returning in the future.   

 2013 12 04 Erin McKeown at Ardmore Music Hall

Erin McKeown is blessed with tremendous talent, on stage you can tell she is a seasoned professional, deft musician, and terrific vocalist. Add to this her keen wit and skilled songwriting and you have the makings of a very entertaining show.

The Anti-Holiday Spectacular is a 2 set show. The first is an abbreviated concert. While I am not that familiar with her catalog, she was able to mix in some songs that I sort of knew (likely from Grand – including The excellent “Taste of You”  and a reworked “Vera”). She also delved deeper into her catalog for the more devoted fan. The set was solo with McKeown spending the bulk of the time on the guitar with 2 or 3 songs done behind the keys. Adept at many styles she picked a good varety of songs pop, rockabilly, and jazz. 

As well done as the traditional set was, The Anti-Christmas set was the highlight of the evening. Basically McKeown claimed to have written a Christmas Musical which her theater contacts deemed unproduceable - apparently “Santa is an Assh-le” isn’t the type of song that can be done in a musical.

Fortunately as McKeown stated “You can put anything on a record” and this is how the Anti-Christmas show came to be. Songs feature rewritten classics and some new songs that echo the Christmas sound. She had enough to put together an entire set with a makeshift chorus that I believe featured local members of the Philadelphia Folksong society – All donning ugly sweaters. 

Hello Sports Fans
For both of my followers I want to mention that McKeown has a Sports Column she writes for the WNYC radio Soundcheck blog. During the show, McKeown played a song that mentions Hall of Famer (HoF Jerk) Rickey Henderson.   

Side Notes 
-This was my first trip to the Ardmore Music Hall (old 23 East Cabaret). The new place is nice, cleaned up, fresh paint, curtains to dampen some of the noise. The floor features tiered seating, decent rotating beer selection 
– I didn’t eat there but they had a mediteranean menu that appeared appropriate to the style of the room. 
- It appears AMH is trying to get a national/NE Corridor Regional act in about once a month 

Lou Reed 1942-2013

Ticket Stub 1992 05 16 - Lou Reed

The 2 decades between May 1992 and today leave me sketchy on the details, but I can remember having a great time.  Lou Reed performed an entire album that night - "Magic and Loss" I think.  He finished the evening with a few encores - Dirty Boulevard and either Sweet Jane or Rock N Roll.

The Velvet Underground's "Loaded" will always we one of my favorite albums. 
 
Further Reading

NYT Obit 


  

Live Music - Nila Kay @ Milkboy Acoustic Cafe, Bryn Mawr PA - February 21 2009

I recently caught the beautiful young singer/songwriter Nila Kay at the Milkboy Coffee Cafe in Bryn Mawr. Nila's styling is part Jazz, part Pop - her set included the expected "Girl from Impanema". The young performer initially seemed a bit timid in the intimate cafe setting, but loosened up in her second set. Kay, from Arlington VA, who has been writing songs since the summer of 07 seems to be developing her style and tends to write a lot of songs about the trials of youth, young like, and love. She branched out into some other subject matter including a song about her young son.

Nila performed two 45 minutes sets composed mostly of her own material with a few cover songs mixed in. She performed the vocals and played guitar, while Jon Laine accompanied her on percussion for about half the songs.

Here are some additional pictures from the show:

Live Concert - Jim's Big Ego @ Milkboy Coffee, Ardmore PA

We take a break from your regularly scheduled baseball card posting to bring a team Phungo concert review.


Jim's Big Ego @ Milkboy Coffee - Ardmore PA 2009-01-24

This past Saturday January 24th Jim Infantino and his band "Jim's Big Ego" back to the Philadelphia Suburbs to play a near capacity show at Ardmore's Milkboy Coffee.

JBE is an entertaining and sharply funny band based out of Boston. They have a unique style that I can only describe as having a geek-rock appeal that is somewhat similar to "They Might Be Giants".

Infantino led the three piece band (guitar, upright bass, drum/percussion) through an hour plus set of mostly new material from the latest JBE release "free*". Highlights included "sleepwalker", "i (don't know how to) party", and JBE favorite "She's Dead" as well as a recently penned song about troubled Illinois Senator Rod Blagojevich - Mostly I think Jim wrote the song only because he envies the senators hair.


Jim Infantino @ Milkboy Coffee - Ardmore PA 200-01-24

I spoke to Jim briefly after the show and he said that he felt that JBE should be out touring more in the near future and that Milkboy was a good place for them to play in the Philadelphia area. He was also good enough to sign a copy of the new JBE CD for me. The band had Free* (real price $15) for sale on both CD and Vinyl as well as two of their prior CDs and T-shirts.

The Milkboy staff was courteous and efficient as usual. They dealt with the large crowd quite well.

And a note that may interest my baseball audience, Jim Infantino has sung the National Anthem at Fenway Park, and I presume is a Red Sox fan. There used to be Anthem photos on the JBE website but they appear to no longer be present.

While we are on the Subject of the Red Sox, if you have not voted in the Jim Rice HOF poll please do. If you want more background on Rice check out my posting from last week, and you will get a hint as to how I voted.


Jim's Big Ego @ Milkboy Coffee - Ardmore PA 2009-01-24

If you have seen Jim's Big Ego, I am sure you know during which song the above picture was taken.