Sorry; late night. I drove back from NYC last night and decided to sleep in this morning.
I've already talked about Chloe Lowery. Charming woman, good singer; opted to scream a little too much (high registers were a little shrill) but she was good. I just wish she didn't introduce Me And Bobby McGee as a "Janis" song. GRRRRRR.
Myles. First, the place was neat; seats surround the floor area, and there is a balcony at the back and to one side of the stage (Selena was up there for most of the show, with local legend Jimmy Webb). I was right in the center, about 10 rows back. I had to move because two douchebags were talking about god fucking knows what through the entire show. Idiots. He came out about 8:30 and played straight through until about 10:30. I thought the setlist was good; from other shows there weren't any surprises in song choice, but certainly seeing "Going To California" or "The Trooper" on setlist.fm doesn't prepare you for what you get. "Going..." was so good, and perfectly captured the hypnotic side of the song. The songs he played from "Year..." were AWE. SOME. "Turning Stones" and "Haunted By Design" are my two favorite songs off the album. The Alter Bridge songs.... Aahhh. I've been sort of getting into AB a little bit lately, and when they're good, they're very good, but they just sound so SAMEY to me, compared with Slash et al. And honestly, the several AB songs he played did nothing to change that. Acoustically, they still are somewhat... same-y when compared to what he did on his solo record and the covers he picked. I won't spoil it but cute little story about him and Selena being in South Africa and finding a scorpion, and a little musical accompaniment to bookend "Turning Stones".
I think, though, that it's rare to see someone that capable, that talented in a setting like that, and for that alone it was an amazing experience. Two stories to highlight that idea: during Staring At The Sun, he was singing, the crowd was excited (it was the second song) and he just sang a line and then said "HANDS!" and immediately 700 people had their hands in the air. He was in total command at that point. Later, during Starlight, he sang it beautifully, and for the chorus, he kind of kept to the lower register, and I was all "okay, it's mellow, it's acoustic, don't need bombast, and plus he's got 2, 3 more hours, right?" Then for the last two repeats of the chorus he aired out that voice and it gave me chills. It really did. Just him, a guitar, and his music and it was so powerful.
(SIDEBAR ONE: NY blows; I had two Tito's and soda, splash of ginger ale, in a rocks glass (so not a double) and... $36 bucks. GTFO.)
(SIDEBAR TWO: I fell for the oldest scam in the book, and honestly, it's bothered me a little and I won't lie, threatened to sour the experience a little. So, shows over at 10:30. I go pee (because I didn't have time to before the show started). I went and bought a shirt (I rarely do, but $25 for a hoodie with "MYLES KENNEDY YEAR OF THE TIGER", not bad). I watched Jimmy Webb act like a rock star. Finally I went outside and lo and behold, there's Myles' van, and the road manager and two roadies were loading up the truck. I watched a little, helped a little, talked to the road manager a bit. One guy with kids asked and the RM said "He's meeting with friends; he'll be out when he's out, but it's early so don't hold your breath." Then Webb comes out and walks down the block the other way, and what was about 25 people dwindled down to about 4 or 5 people, TOPS. Then this other guy - also a roadie (who had been packing the truck) all of a sudden comes up to three of us, waiting by the truck and starts in on "Myles this" and "Myles that" and "what did you think of the setlist" and "what do you think about him touring with a band (he's going to Europe with the YOTT band this summer)" blah blah blah, and I notice he's looking at the road manager. I figured "that's his boss and he's bullshitting so..." Then in mid sentence, he looks over at the road manager, who nods, he looks back at us and says "night guys!" jumps in the van with the other two and took off. About 30 second later, this other guy - who had been out with us and had a poster with him - comes strolling by and says "you missed him. While you guys were being distracted by the roadie, he snuck out the side door, and literally just walked down the side walk with his wife. I caught him on the corner." I felt really stupid. I've calmed down a little and now I realize that it's not just about him. He's with his wife, he can't really just hang out on sidewalks in NYC all night. But still; there were 4 of us; it didn't need to be handled like moving the President through London.)