3 posts tagged “concerts”
i went up to Milwaukee this week end for the Harley Davidson anniversary. i flew up Thursday, Linda picked me up, and we drove directly to the Lloyd's house. they were kind enough to offer thier fold out couch in the tv room to us, and that was really nice. big thank you to the Lloyds!
we got the party started right away.... as soon as we dropped off our bags, we headed out to a near by town that was having a party. we ate some BBQ and Pizza and saw Blues Traveler in concert. good show, "fawkin awesome."
speaking of shows.... over the next couple of days, mostly Friday, we saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, War, Los Lonely Boys, Black Crowes, and the Boss - Bruce Springstein. we also kinda looked towards ZZ Top, but that show was a bust because they were put in a much smaller stage area than they needed. it was sooooo packed that we didn't get anywhere close. so as we moved past the stage trying to get in, but failing, we heard a couple of songs but didn't see anything. so we just headed over to Los Lonely Boys, who were very good! the Black Crowes are good too, more of a jam band than i thought they'd be. War was fantastic. and i enjoyed BRMC a lot too. Bruce played for more than 3 hours and that was a really good show too. we hung out with Shari's brothers and family at that show as they were all there, and had fun. i was definitely glad we went to see him.
the concerts and some other events are at a place called "Summerfest Grounds." a pretty cool area full of stages and food courts. and last week end, bikers!
Saturday was a big day for us too. we hit the road early and went by Milwaukee Harley to see what was going on there. it was quite different from the official events since the Harley dealer was next door to a strip club and they were sharing a parking lot. they had the world's biggest beer bong there, and a carnival atmosphere that the official events didn't have. at the Harley events everyone was calm, cool, and friendly... nothing that would make Linda uncomfortable, like at the dealer/strip club gathering. but we picked up some t-shirts at the dealer and then headed over to the venue that was having demo rides. the demo rides were about the best part of the week end. they allowed passengers so i rode with Linda and once with Shari. we got to ride the new Fat Bob, the Heritage, a Road King, and the new Trike. we were very happy with all the rides. good times... on Friday we were wondering where all the bikes were? it was more about hanging out, eating, and shows. but Saturday we found the bikes. and it was sweet.
we also went to two of the factory tours, but only had time to walk through one. we picked up some t-shirts there too. i ended up with about five t-shirts from this week end.
Cornerstone Fest was a great time again this year. i think it was a particularly good year actually. i saw, and enjoyed, more shows than i have in the past few years. but i'll talk about the music a bit later....
Norman and i started our trip Friday the 22nd. we usually leave a couple of days earlier, but it didn't work that way this year. we got there Saturday and set up camp. the youth group that comes from North Carolina was already there a couple of days, and had their huge deck already up by the time we arrived. we like the youth group and Stewart the youth pastor that brings them. and they actually helped us cut the grass and set up in the press tent this year! it was very nice of them, we appreciated it!... Linda and Shari joined us Sunday evening. so camping up on Tony's Hill we had Norman, Jacob, me, Linda, Shari, Steve Ewers, Kyle, and Marlene. the weather for the week started out rainy and muddy, but cleared up and most of the week was lovely.
as always, we (the phantom tollbooth) ran the press tent, but this year was a bit different. we were combined to Mike Hertenstein's idea: the Talking Stage. that meant that after our seminars and press conferences, the Talking Stage moved into the tent and did their programming. Mike is already a busy man at C'stone. he runs the Imaginarium, and oversees all the seminars as well. the Talking Stage was kind of a talk show - discussion - interview format most of the time, which is close to what we have already been doing for years and that's why we're now linked together. that change also meant more visibility for us as we moved into a much bigger tent right in the action of the fest midway. at first i think we were a little leery of the changes but once the fest got moving we really liked our new location. and the way we set up the tent was pretty cool with a little stage and a huge back drop, we had a back stage area that we've never had before and we put to good use. during the fest we had full days of press conferences and recorded them all for podcasting. [they're not quite up yet, but they will be.] i got to do some moderating (which i usually kick against but end up really enjoying and so glad i did them). i interviewed Skillet, Crimson Moonlight, Glenn Kaiser, X-sinner, and Sean Michel. two of my scheduled conferences didn't show up, Showdown and Bride. i was looking forward to both of those too... we had another good staff this year, and some cool moments.... Linda and Shari run the ship and do a very good job steering and navigating. the crew is me and Norman (facilities maintenance), Dan (is very busy running the sound and recording and moderating), Chris aka Grandfather Rock (famous DJ and moderator), Brett (did a great job this year moderating), Jonathan (moderating and encouragement), Julie (support and encouragement, not to mention feeding us!), Steve (all around support), David (all around support and help), Zane (support and smiles).
overall, i'd say the press tent was a rousing success, once again!
the concerts were especially good this year. the shows i caught all or some of were (i'll put stand out shows in bold): Rue Royal, Deas Veil, Mike Roe, Roe v. Pritzl, the Filthy 42s, Headnoise, Flatfoot 56, Maron, the Lee Boys, Glenn Kaiser, Lo-Ruhamah, Crimson Moonlight, Aletheian, Neviah Nevi, Skillet, Anberlin, Memphis Belle, Justin McRoberts, Michael Pritzl, the Violet Burning, beach worship with Violet Burning, Leigh Nash, Rex Carroll Sessions, Jonezetta, the Lost Dogs, Whitecross, Bride, X-Sinner, Bloodgood, Jeff Elbel + Ping, John Davis, Crimson Thorn, Norma Jean, Klank. i really did enjoy all these shows a lot, not a bad one in the bunch, well... maybe one. :-) ..... but the ones that just left me going "wow!" i put in bold.....
great week, great fest, great times.
i think i'll turn yesterday's QotD on it's ear and talk about some bands i'm glad that i have seen that can't be seen anymore.
i'm glad i saw Lynyrd Skynard on their first tour opening for the Who. i remember a lot about that show, where i was sitting, how the guys in Skynard were drunk and still drinking from the bottle on stage, and how they were absolutely great anyway. i've seen the original Who many times, that was one of my favorite live bands. i saw Pink Floyd a couple of times, also great. i didn't see the Beatles, but i did see Paul and i saw George. (oh, there's one i really wish i'd seen but didn't - John Lennon!) i've seen the Parlament-Funkadelic, one of my favs as well. i saw Sly and the Family Stone and he actually showed up and had a great show! i saw Joni Mitchell for a few songs, until she stopped and walked off stage because the Cole Field House stunk like gym socks (so the Washington Post reported the next day). i also went to a few Rod Stewart shows back when Ron Wood was with him; that was a great band. looking back, i'm glad i saw Cat Stevens, B-52s, Black Sabbath with Ozzy, David Bowie through every phase, Yes, EL&P, both Winters brothers, Iggy the Stooges, the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, the Allman Bros., and lots more of my 70s and 80s favs....
some other now dead rockers i've seen are: Little Feat with Lowell George, Robert Palmer, Rory Gallager, Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia, Gram Parsons, Pete Hamm- Badfinger, Tommy Bolin, Frank Zappa, Randy Rhoads, Karen Carpenter, Roy Buchanan, Miles Davis, Root Boy Slim, Vince Ebo.... (i'm sure there's others, but that's all i got right now)....
