Over at the telecaster forum the question was posed: “best concert you’ve been to and why”. I got to thinking about it and posted this:

Damn that’s too hard! Very inspired to post long!
In rough chronological order….
1.The Supremes, Michigan State Fair. Why: only concert I remember going to with my parents, and the Supremes were doing their hits.
2.The Beatles, Olympia Stadium Detroit (both 64 and 66). My grandma bought our tickets, Saturday afternoon concerts, I was 9 and 11. A sea of screaming girls but I could make out the songs I loved. It was something else. My friends down the block got signed pics ’cause their dad was chief editor of the Free Press (mine was a columnist for the News).
3.Leon Thomas opening for Rashaan Roland Kirk, hopped the fence at Cranbrook in Michigan (I was a poor teenager) Why? Leon was blues and the soulful truth, a member of his band danced with a samurai sword and had to leave in an ambulance, Kirk did the multi horn simultaneous thing, playing multiple parts all by himself all at once, and finished by destroying the chair he was using. Amazing musicianship and incredible intensity.
4.Butterfield Blues Band opening for the MC5 at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit. Same set as the “Butterfield Live” double album. Why: Amazing performance.
5.Stooges. At some catholic high school gymnasium in Detroit. Jane Fonda opened w/ anti war speech. Iggy got punched by a preppy, and later laid on the floor while getting magic markered on the face. They sounded absolutely cool.
6.Won tickets to a Cobo Hall in Detroit concert, Dr. John opened, this was the full gilded splinters gris gris man show in night tripper costume, writhing women strewn with glitter. Mesmerizing. Then Edgar Winters White Trash played for too long (his “Frankenstein” “Tobacco Road” peak). Headliner was Alice Cooper touring the Schools Out album, one of the first real production rock shows (guillotine etc..) great great show though it didn’t quite work out in regards to re igniting my relationship to 1st girlfriend.
7. New York Dolls at the Michigan Palace, killer kane in a cast, they absolutely rocked.
8. Stooges at the Michigan Palace. The concert that became infamous as their last, I do remember “louie louie”.
9.Queen opening for Mott The Hoople, first row standing at a small gym in Denver, I’d just arrived for USAF tech school. Remember thinking it odd how Freddy Mercury did the microphone stand maneuvers. That first album was the best. Mott had the marionettes drop down onto the stage, I still enjoy Ian Hunter.
10.Tommy Bolin, Santana in Albuquerque New Mexico (was it called Veterans Memorial Colosseum?). Why: top of Bolin’s short career and Carlos joined him for an encore jam that was longer than the concert. I had to leave and could still hear them trading licks on the way to my van (yes a 70’s van).
11.Frank Zappa, Detroit. Why: Cause he was Frank.
12.David Bowie, Albuquerque or Detroit. Why: Station to Station tour, opened with the French silent film with an eyeball slice, great crowd reaction…. fantastic set list.
13.The Rockets. Wayne State University, Detroit. Free concert. Great local band.
14. Stevie Ray Vaughn, 2 different Arizona State Fairs… First included a great sit on the edge of the stage solo bit, last was his first w/ keyboards and clean. I went home and plugged in, amp on 11.
15. Fabulous Thunderbirds, Buddy Guy, BB King, Santana at a Phoenix Blues fest. 3 rows back all by myself after a divorce. Almost got one of BB’s picks. Buddy did his “Hendrix got this from me” routine and Santana’s percussion section helped them to steal a show that couldn’t be topped, kept going deeper and deeper into a really heavy groove.
16.Peter Gabriel, Phoenix. Why: First concert I took the lady who’s my spouse for life to (and it was damn good, Tony Levin on the stick).
17. RHCP on the Stadium Arcadium tour was great, and Clapton/Winwood led to my purchase of a strat.
Posting this has made my day. I realize what a lucky man I am after all…

Next morning edit…
BB King & U2, Sun Devil Stadium, Joshua Tree tour. Around Christmas time. A very light rain shower during “Bullet the Blue Sky”.

Here’s this years pool template, quick and dirty in Excel or PDF formats, prints in landscape on letter paper (with number cutouts). Enjoy!
super-bowl-xliv-pool
super-bowl-xliv-pool

Hey long time no blog! Facebook has assimilated me! ARGH! Woot!

Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton – 6/26 Jobbing.com Arena Glendale Arizona.

To start, my wife and I were amused while watching the audience file into the show. It seemed as though we were immersed in a Cialis commercial, plenty of well groomed graying couples smiling excitedly about their night out. I suppose we were no exception.

The band hit the stage about fifteen minutes late, no warm up act, and stuck to the set list they’ve played to date at previous shows on the tour. The set list really works. It flows so well while mixing up great variety. The Traffic instrumental “Glad” following the classic blues of “ Sleeping in the Ground” for example. I quickly found myself struck by the amazing tones of Clapton’s black Strats in a live setting. He produces a simply wonderful range of warm sustaining goodness in many flavors. It sounded incredible. Overall the sound was excellent, though there were times I wished it were louder. The excellent video work on the big screens had me wishing for a DVD of this show. In fact, this band and show was so much better than the Madison Square Garden recording that I’d go nuts for another live DVD release.

My only small disappointment was that Winwood’s solo number remained “Georgia” which got a great audience response, but I was really hoping for “Low spark of high heeled boys” as was reported to have taken Georgia’s place in the Texas shows.

The middle acoustic set was sweet even though the sound up in the nosebleeds was a bit too quiet to really give the dynamics of Eric’s work justice. And while the acoustic “Layla” is very jazzy smooth-groove fine, I missed the keyboard ending section of the original. Considering that along with Winwood the band includes the very talented Chris Stainton (who’s played with every British rocker), the electric long version trailing off into that beautiful keyboard finale would’ve been something to experience.

The closing “Voodoo Child” was a treat, primarily for Winwood’s organ and vocal work which invoked the original Hendrix recording. Clapton and Stainton solos were outstanding as well with Clapton displaying his range of styles beautifully in the context of a song known more for flat out bombastic power guitar. The encore struck me as scripted until the really fun keyboard solo surprise during “Cocaine” and was followed by Dear Mr. Fantasy.

Although somewhat short and very controlled (no chance of a second encore here) the show set the bar for pure musicianship and professionalism, quite extraordinary. The rhythm section was knockout powerful and the background vocalists completed the mix very well, something I’ll certainly miss when I next view the MSG DVD.

In closing, there was the young lady next to me, loving the show, who jumped up and screamed “I love Cream!” during a Traffic song. This made me smile and feel a bit old. You know, “I’m a man” from Winwood’s days with the Spencer Davis Group would’ve been a great number to close the show. The Cialis set would’ve been complete!

Click for a few AZ news pics
Edit: A well written review of the show can be found on whereseric.com.

Set List
01. Had To Cry Today
02. Low Down
03. After Midnight
04. Presence of The Lord
05. Sleeping in the Ground
06. Glad
07. Well Alright
08. Tough Luck Blues
09. Pearly Queen
10. There’s A River
11. Forever Man
12. Georgia On My Mind – Steve Winwood solo
13. Driftin’ – acoustic
14. How Long Blues
15. Layla – acoustic version
16. Can’t Find My Way Home
17. Split Decision
18. Voodoo Chile
Encore:
19. Cocaine
20. Dear Mr. Fantasy

Band Lineup:
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
Steve Winwood – vocals, Hammond B3, piano, guitar
Chris Stainton – keyboards
Willie Weeks – bass
Abe Laboriel, Jr. – drums
Michelle John – backing vocals
Sharon White – backing vocals

What do you do when you’ve been laid off and are waiting to start your next job? Hit the road Jack. We recently took advantage of a short hiatus for Val and spent a few delightful days in Southeastern Arizona. I had to have a book along and was fortunate to find Going back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton. We more or less traced the authors route while gaining historical and natural tidbits from his book. The drive from Phoenix to Tuscon is flat out ugly, but from scenic state route 83 onwards is a treat.

We stopped by several wineries in Sonoita. Quite a contrast to Sonoma/Napa of course but this wide open range land on gently rolling hills surrounded by bedrock mountains is just as pretty in it’s own way. Full size pics are available from links on each pic page. 

In Bisbee we stayed at a funky restored miners shack called The Sleepy Dog Guest House. This was the first road trip for Maynard, the funky stub-legged dog whose been with us for about 6 months now. We spent a good deal of time hiking the hills north of the old town as well as the hills and stairways in town. The miners homes were built on terraces interconnected by a complex network of concrete steps. It’s still tricky to navigate among some of the vacation homes clustered about the hills. Makes you wonder how people get the bigger stuff moved about.

Here’s a bit of what the house we stayed in looks like:

I’ve scattered some pics through the gallery in my “unorganized by event or place” fashion. You’ll find a couple of fun macros and some graffiti. Plus an art car shot and one of the long stairways to nowhere. Most notably to our family, I’ve included the first online shots of Maynard, who’s turned out to be a real cool fool of a dog. Here he is doing Rin Tin Tin on the lookout for the ghost of Geronimo…

Ain’t that cute. Gotta love it man, yep.

And the night sky is freaking incredible down there

Cheers

Ok, I’ve lost 40 lbs over the last six months, and one of my dietary mainstays has been homemade hummus. It’s so simple and quick to make, and so satisfying with raw veggies or whole grain crackers/pita/tortilla. Here’s my perfected recipe, spicy, creamy, and full of healthy flavor. It’s got a big kick from plenty of jalapenos and HOT Hungarian paprika. Click the pics to see full size shots of the ingredients I’ve come to like best:

Drain and rinse:
1 – 16 oz. can of garbanzo beans (chick peas).
1 – 4 oz. can of jalapenos.

Put them into a food processor or blender and add:
3 tablespoons of your favorite olive oil (I like a good flavorful virgin first cold press).
2 and 1/2 tablespoons of tahini (ground sesame seed. Can be expensive but goes a long way).
2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt (look for strained without pectin and stuff, like Voskos brand, it’s so creamy).
1 tablespoon water.
Juice of 1 lime.
3 cloves of garlic, minced.
1 teaspoon HOT Hungarian paprika.
1/4 teaspoon salt.

Blend until smooth and enjoy. Best after the flavors meld in the refrigerator overday.

For lunch I frequently pack a mini Ziploc container with a 2-3 tablespoons of hummus, and use some veggies and/or a small whole grain something-or-other to scoop it up with.

There are so many variations on hummus, and a bazillion on the internet, this is the one that I’m happy to make again and again.

I like “somewhat quite very very spicy” — it’s “mo betta” than most recipes that weasel out with “a taste” of heat. Enjoy in good health, and please let me know if you like it!