2016 highlights
RockStar Date - January 6th , 2016 Bill Graham Civic San Francisco , Ca. Tool , 3 Teeth
Where do I start ? An amazing , visually & musically spectactular show ! But first was one of the weirdest things ever saw too. Maynard is far from your typical front man , actually never was in front at all. Only his silhouette was visible , and he was wearing some strange suit & had something on his back. ( If you look closely in some of the pics you can see him to the left of drums ) He was strategically out of the light & at back of stage the entire show. Even at the end when the band came forward & bowed good night, he had already slipped down the stairs stage left & was gone ??
That being said , he & the guys put on an amazing performance , they sounded great & the video images , light laser show was second to none . Really over the top ! Again something different than most shows that employ video, there was not one shot of them playing or even goofing around. All were crazy freaky videos , colors , shapes , freaks , trippy scenes , all to dazzle your senses. A little like I imagine the electric Kool-Aid acid tests were back in the sixties . :-)
We had a long frazzled day working & arrived late , missed 3 teeth completely. was intermission, looked inside floor area was tightly packed all the way to the rear doors . We decided to go upstairs for a minute & see if there were any light/open areas on the floor - usually somewhere. But not this time , show was sold out in seconds , so no surprise. we walked along rail above lower section & saw people standing edge of aisle and a nice open spot. Ended up being perfect , had plenty of room to move around , unobstructed view , weren't that far from stage . And honestly with the big show would of probably missed it if up front as usual.
Also had to be at work at 3 am so were able to escape fairly quickly afterwards , one of few times didn't go after any bonuses. And another show the next night lol
2016 cont : Favorite Music Moments in Pictures
RockStar Date - January 7th , 2016
The Rockbar San Jose , Ca.
Queensryche
RockStar Date - January 10th , 2016
The Regency San Francisco , Ca.
Metal Allegiance ,
The Players
Mike Portnoy - Drums - Winery Dogs/Dream Theater/more...
Dave Ellefson - Bass -Megadeath
Phil Demmel - Guitar- Machine Head
Mark Menghi - Bass
Mark Osegueda - Vocals Death Angel
Troy Sanders -Bass/Vocals - Mastadon
Adam Duce - Bass - Machine Head
Alex Skolnick - Guitar - Testament
metal allegiance cont.
What a night
This ranks up there as one of the best shows ever!!! Which makes me wonder, where the heck was everybody ??? The Regency isn't that big but it wasn't even half full? I felt a little bad for the band but they didn't seem to mind . Hopefully this wasn't typical of their tour ? This was the last night & they gave us one hellluva show. The cast of players was incredible & an amazing setlist. They played a lot of their favorites & influences , as well as some of their own songs .
Again were able be right up front , and had Phil & David right in front of us most of the night . There was more than 10 people playing at once a lot of the time, hard to see it all or choose where to look . Being big bass fans, was way cool to see 3 or 4 bass players at once - and playing the heavy thump of Motorhead was an awesome tribute. We recently saw Machine Head and felt a special connection with phil. Dave is next month & we were laying the groundwork for that next time lol .
Very cool see troy from mastodon again as well , they opened for Judas Priest last time around .
I didn't know Death Angel before but after Mark's amazing performance , they are on our radar & for sure we will be there when they come around. He also was one of the nicest guys ever, came down off the stage , even though wasn't easy , so Lisa could get a pic with him . Also only 2nd time ever I've seen band member pull up set lists & give to fans , I was super lucky that he gave one to me !! (other time was Jerry from Misfits )
Portnoy was amazing as ever & except for a brief moment was the only constant throughout the show , he is one high energy guy . Also had recently seen him w/ the Winery Dogs , hard interact tho with him hiding behind that awesome set of drums. :-)
Mark M. was credited for organizing this group & I give a million thanks for doing so , can't say enough what an amazing show it was. And it was his birthday that night and got a little cake on him , Happy Bday Bro!
This was truly a super group , We are so thankful they all took the time to do this aside from their regular bands , all looked like they were having a great time and was a lot of mutual respect and a few humbling moments . We also got one of David's and one of Phil's picks .
There were two openers, we missed the first - Doll skins , saw them at the t-shirt stand , young girls , popular with the people , wish we would of saw them play . Cage was the second band & they were really good . The singer looked like he had an old Rob Halford outfit & a similar style of singing . The guitarist in front of us was the second biggest guy ever seen play guitar next to Doyle.:-) Lisa got one of his picks .
2016 highlights cont.
RockStar Date - January 20th , 2016 The Fox Theater Oakland , Ca. Van Morrison
Guess have to start off with , this was the 2nd time ever screwed over by craigslist, and I've scored hundreds of tickets . First time just before show time tho. This was a pricey show , I tried to find a deal for a week & figured we weren't going . Last day - wed , made a deal for mid back orchestra tickets , both sides expressed solid deal & felt more comfortable than usual when took off. Charlie from freemont (and I should put you phone #!!) never showed , so after giving up & going to venue and scoring tix from scalpers , we missed the beginning , not sure how much but van was already playing . And we were up in the mezzanine , I guess we are getting spoiled, Got a few pics but very far away . The close up shots here I got off the craigslist ads lol .
The show was amazing & its hard to believe how good Van sounded , the variety of instruments he plays , and how great he looked . He appears to of found the fountain of youth.
He had a great band , loved the variety of instruments , and the versatility of the players . The keyboard guy had a trumpet he played as frequently as the keyboard and an old school organ. We just love that old school deep purple sounding organ !!
Another disappointment was to find out the fox did not have a standing area , we started off on side in aisle but they made us go to our seats , we tried explain that we didn't wanna stand in front of some one & her response was _ this is a sit down show. WTF ? never heard of such a thing . Well similar - people sitting at beach concert of Y&T crying about standing ?? Anybody knows me I'm not a sit down patron lol .
For the record we went to our seats & we did not stand in front of anyone , I about broke my seat but remained in it lol .
We heard Shana - Van's daughter was supposed to open , not sure if happened . We expected to see all of Van , so as timing went doesn't appear there was time for her to play first ? If anyone should know and would like to email me , I will update here , as well as any better pictures ? Ill be happy to give credit :-)
We asked about setlist & they said there wasn't one , that Van just calls out what he wants :-)
The Beat Goes On
RockStar Date - January 22nd 2016 The Fox Theater Oakland , Ca. The Devil Makes Three , Parker
Another last minute find that was spectacular & super fun ! I was sold when I saw their picture, girl w/ stand-up bass, guy w/ banjo , and another guy w/ a sweet bluesy steel looking guitar !!
I forwarded to Lisa & she tells me her co-worker just told her about this same great band ! Somehow tickets were still available & dirt cheap at $27 ???Stars aligned once again !
We missed the opener unfortunately but were in time to get a nice spot near stage in front of the giant bass befoe they came on . :-)
What a show! They rocked every song, the crowd was crazy fun & somehow even had a little moshing going on . Opposite of heavy metal really but great bass beats , crazy picking , fun lyrics - just made for a bouncing good time .
It was a young crowd , almost comical at one point a kid yells out " this Is The Best Concert Ever!" He sounded like this was maybe his second ever lol . No offense to anyone , glad everyone enjoyed & far be it from me to say how to express your fun! Glad to see the young people out supporting music too!
The preview write up said they were drumless but the did have a drummer for most songs , it was a really nice small basic kit , and he was barely tapping on it most of the time . Was amusing and I imagine hard to play so lightly ha ha. Very cool - love seeing things different than the usual. Also had a fiddler on a few songs , more fun fun fun.
No. 7 was a crowd favorite and I was glad because was one I had stumbled on before hand & had hoped they'd play. Besides being a fan of Mr .Jack lol .
The Devil Makes Three are definitely on our radar now & we'll go see them again any chance we get . Already looking forward to next time . Love it when find a new band ! Not that they are new , just to us . :-)
Thanks again to the Fox for getting great shows , keeping general admission floor , & low prices lol !
Only got a picture of set list & not good one at that , will take little research to make clear lol .
Sabbath 2016
Another big check off bucketlist , wow what an amazing show! It's unbelievable to me how good these guys still are after all these years. The Energy was high , sounded great , everybody looked good & happy , Hard to believe how old these guys are. I hope to have 1/2 that energy when I get there lol.
Fairies wear boots was a favorite we hoped to hear & we got our money's worth as it was second so
Fairies wear boots was a favorite we hoped to hear & we got our money's worth as it was second song, and man did they rock it !!
Was an amazing set covering most all the big hits , great stage show too.
So glad got to catch this bit of history as it winds down.
Thank you & god bless you guys !!!!
Yay metallica!! one of our favorites ! And at home in SF , seems rare anymore lol .
Another great show, Sounded great , played most the good stuff , see set-list , so friggin lucky again.
Cage the elephant rocked it & look forward to seeing more of them. Too bad crowd was so tough on them , just different type music . That being said appeared everyone got along & we had a freindly time all ar
Gin blossoms Vegas
Wow what a show , thought would be good but what a live band, they were super fun, had a great time.
Were in Vegas for Nascar weekend , looked around to see what was happening , so glad found this show for our first night out.
Nugget had nice room, sounded good , not too big , unfortunately seated but we had decent seats . Band appeared to be having just as much fun as crowd, got most of us up
Black Mongoose
I know I always say can't believe how lucky we are but OMG ! This for sure was one of those extremely lucky times , especially considering it didn't look like was even going to happen.
This was part of my annual Nascar weekend , and originally this was supposed to be Glen Hughes of Deep Purple ,but he had knee surgery & had to postpone until September.
Fortunately Doug Aldrich still got some guys & gave us a helluva show , for free on top of that . God we were so happy to see one of our top 5 fav guitarists up close in a tiny venue , a bar really !!
And what a group of guys , friggin Francesco DiCosmo on bass & vocals , and Brian Tichy on drums. Also Vinny Paul made a guest appearance on drums for a couple songs, Andrew freeman (Last in Line)
Experience the Music World with newversionsuperfans.cool
Ace Frehley w/ Lita Ford Brooklyn Bowl , Las Vegas , Nv. 3/6/16
OMG what a dream night , weekend really !!
This is how we topped off an amazing weekend in Las Vegas . Came for the Nascar races & found a great show every night .
Lita was amazing as always , such a great guitar player , still has great voice & lookin good as well. Her band was very good & they gave a headline show as the opener, worth the money before Ace even came out !
Ace was a check off my bucketlist , and a giant check, always been a kiss fan since 9 years old, first time ever got to see him, and he didn't disappoint. Still every bit as good as he ever was, and love the smoking guitar !!
Didn't get the set list but those guys deserved it !! At least got a picture of it.