“I mean, I don’t think there’s anything that we love more than California, drinking wine, and singing some songs…” Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, performing before a massive crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre Sunday night. It seemed to be a sentiment shared by all in attendance as the band played through their own hits as well as some interesting cover songs, putting on a show that really impressed. [Read more…]
Richter Entertainment Group’s Summer Concert Season at Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphys will be happening in June, July, August and September this year. Artists include Toby Keith, Little Big Town, The Isley Brothers, The Commodores, The Family Stone, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, Foreigner, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, Queensryche, Counting Crows, Live, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, America, Stone Temple Pilots, The Cult, Bush, Culture Club, The B-52s, Tom Bailey from Thompson Twins, and more!
After a series of gigs with Lionel Richie in Australia and New Zealand over the next week, Nile Rodgers & CHIC will be playing a number of dates all over the world through the end of August, including many festival appearances. [Read more…]
“…so for us, it was a very difficult time indeed. This song kind of sums it up, really quite well. Tonight, I’m going to dedicate this song to Rex Tillerson.” Roger Daltrey’s intro to “Another Trick Day”, performing before a relatively intimate crowd at the Bob Hope Theatre in Stockton on Tuesday night, given that he is the front man for one of the bands most anyone would name as one of the greatest of all time. This was my first time seeing any incarnation of The Who live on stage, and I was struck by how much Daltrey seemed to enjoy it himself. A born performer with boundless energy and enthusiasm, he is also a storyteller, giving background, stories, contest and inspiration behind the music that he and The Who Band played for the crowd. And that crowd… one of the best ones I’ve stood among in some time, looking around, it would seem to almost be a religious experience for a lot of the people who turned out for the show.
As with my 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Year in Review features, this article looks back on a year of music with a summary of the highlights. This is my attempt to (subjectively) share my favorites of the year, from live shows to new songs and albums. You can also check out my Top 100 Concert Photos of 2017 in that separate article.
This is the first of my two 2017 “Year In Review” articles. As with my articles in 2012, 2013, and 2014, 2015 and 2016, I reviewed a sampling of my concert photos from 2017 and compiled some of my favorites and stopped when I hit around 100 photos in total. Please also check out my companion 2017 Year in Review article, which covers my Top 5 Concerts, Top 5 Albums, Top 50 Songs and more. [Read more…]
“It’s lovely to be here celebrating beautiful memories”… Boy George in one of his asides during his headlining performance at the inaugural “iHeart80s Birthday Bash” live concert event at SAP Center in San Jose. The special show on Saturday night featured Boy George, Tiffany, The Romantics, A Flock Of Seagulls, Farrington & Mann of the Original When In Rome UK, Tommy Tutone, Animotion and Nu Shooz, with former original MTV VJ Martha Quinn hosting along with radio personalities Christie James and Morris Knight. It was really a stellar show with end to end 80s-era hits and hitmakers putting on non-stop entertainment for four hours.
“This is the 34th city on this tour. And I woke up this morning with the cold from hell. I made it through thirty three and a half days. But however we do have a really great treat in store for you… let’s get together and welcome Mr. Peter Frampton to the stage. We’ve been having a really great Summer playing lots of different American blues tunes and we’re going to do three of them for you. This very first one we do you already know, it’s called “Mercury Blues” by K.C. Douglas”. Steve Miller of Steve Miller Band on stage with co-headliner Peter Frampton playing to a sold out crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre on Sunday night, bringing their popular tour to an end. Both artists have made visits to Murphys in recent years, but it was nice to enjoy them on the same stage. The crowd went wild for their performances both together and apart, as they had fans up on their feet much of the night. [Read more…]
Yesterday, Coldplay kicked off the second North American leg of their “A Head Full of Dreams” tour at at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This is a follow-up to the first visit to North America in July, August and September of 2016. The band’s seventh tour, it is a return to larger arenas and stadium and in total they will play over 100 shows across five continents. Their latest EP, Kaleidoscope, came out last month. [Read more…]
“And now here we are… What are we going to do with this night, that’s the question right? It’s up to us, and it’s up to you guys… what are we going to do with this night? It’s a Monday night… I propose that we had a Monday last week, and we’ll have a Monday next week… but this is our Monday tonight. And if we don’t make the most out of it, we’re just wrong. So the only question I have is, who’s with us? Front to back, side to side, who’s with us? Alright, let’s do this…” Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, bonding with the massive crowd at Ironstone Amphitheatre at Ironstone Vineyards. Touring alongside Counting Crows on their “A Brief History of Everything Tour”, it’s all about giving the fans what they wanted, and it would seem that they delivered. [Read more…]