Your Concerts for 2021 (crosses fingers)

[Stadler]

Kind of interested in catching one of the Rick Wakeman dates. He's a witty guy, and an evening of piano and amusing anecdotes sounds pretty cool. He's up in NE around the same time as NMB, so I might well have to work something out for that.

I saw the previous version of that show.  It's excellent; the dude can still play and he is pretty funny.  Excuse the bad photography...

[El Barto]

Kind of interested in catching one of the Rick Wakeman dates. He's a witty guy, and an evening of piano and amusing anecdotes sounds pretty cool. He's up in NE around the same time as NMB, so I might well have to work something out for that.

I saw the previous version of that show.  It's excellent; the dude can still play and he is pretty funny.  Excuse the bad photography...

Man, that Fall River venue looks utterly craptastic. That complicates what would otherwise have been a pretty easy and enjoyable deal.

[TAC]

Fall River is craptastic.

[cramx3]

So last week while I was in LA I managed to catch my first ever rap concert 

Saw Cypress Hill and Atmosphere at the LA Shrine Outdoors.  Just a big GA venue in a parking lot outside the indoor venue.  Pretty well attended overall, with a large space.  Masks or vaccines were not required, so not many people had them on, including myself.  Kind of hard to wear one when the booze is flowing and EVERYONE is smoking  I actually saw Atmosphere once before, at Warped Tour 2019, and they were kind of an odd one at that show being rap.  Obviously this was a better setting and the crowd seemed really into it.  Myself, meh.  I'm not a big rap fan, but I'll give him credit for his freestyle and overall rapping skills.  I was entertained.  Cypress Hill was pretty good though.  Very energetic crowd.  Even a mosh pit broke out at the end!  Really cool to see.  Had A LOT of fun.  After the show I walked over by the tour buses and Cypress Hill were just hanging out smoking and bsing with fans.  Seemed so chill, although I thought it a bit odd for a touring band to be mingling with the people during covid times.  Maybe marijuana kills covid?!    Anyway, got a pic with B-Real!



and here is my full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itUH5g2WfME

about to head down to the Philly area for 311 and Iration tonight, some reggae rock 

[Grappler]

I snuck in a show before the covid spread in my county became bad enough to shut down music again.  I bought tickets about 5-6 weeks ago, when things were looking better.  It's the first concert I've been able to attend since February 2018!

Saw Last in Line at a small club near my house.  I'd never heard their original music before buying tickets, but the thought of seeing Vivian Campbell and Vinnie Appice in a small club, playing their Dio songs was too much to pass up.   The venue still had their covid social distance setup - tables by the stage, then rows of chairs.  It wasn't packed at all, just a small crowd.  Walking through the music room was the same as walking through a crowded restaurant - you'd pass by people, but you weren't packed tight together in a sweaty (and covid-transmitting) crowd.  I didn't feel the need to wear my mask too often, though I did bring one and wear it occasionally, though not during the actual show.

The show was absolutely worth the money - Vivian can play the hell out of the guitar and Andrew Freeman SMOKES as the lead singer.  Second to seeing Ronnie live, he is a perfect fit for those songs now.   They played 5 from Holy Diver and 3 from Last in Line, plus a good 5-6 of their original songs.  I wish they'd play the title track from Sacred Heart.  They seem to stick to just those songs from the first two Dio albums.  I even really loved seeing Phil Soussan on bass, who played on The Ultimate Sin in Ozzy's band, who joined after Jimmy Bain died.  I was in the first row of seats and had a great view of the stage, especially as the majority of the crowd sat on their asses the whole night.  Andrew even called out one doofus who was sitting in front of him dead center and texted throughout the whole show - he finished a verse, then looked at the guy and asked if he was finished through the microphone.     He did thank us all for coming out and suporting live music - this was only their second show since February of 2020, but you'd never know they hadn't played since then.

If you love the old Dio songs, go see these guys - they do not disappoint! 

[Anguyen92]

All right, first show for me today.  Going to see Rise Against at my local Amphitheater.  In case they check, I opted to get a hard photocopy of my vaccine card and decided to laminate it.  That should be enough when it comes to that front.  Been almost two years I've been to FivePoint (since seeing Zac Brown Band, which was a great show.  They did a cover of RATM's Bulls on Parade with the fiddle player doing lead vocals. Good stuff).   I had like three shows at that venue that was scheduled for last year (Breaking Benjamin/Bush, Disturbed/Staind, Nickelback/STP/Switchfoot) before the shutdown.  Sadly, neither of those shows were rescheduled to come back here this year.  That's a bummer.

[Stadler]

I snuck in a show before the covid spread in my county became bad enough to shut down music again.  I bought tickets about 5-6 weeks ago, when things were looking better.  It's the first concert I've been able to attend since February 2018!

Saw Last in Line at a small club near my house.  I'd never heard their original music before buying tickets, but the thought of seeing Vivian Campbell and Vinnie Appice in a small club, playing their Dio songs was too much to pass up.   The venue still had their covid social distance setup - tables by the stage, then rows of chairs.  It wasn't packed at all, just a small crowd.  Walking through the music room was the same as walking through a crowded restaurant - you'd pass by people, but you weren't packed tight together in a sweaty (and covid-transmitting) crowd.  I didn't feel the need to wear my mask too often, though I did bring one and wear it occasionally, though not during the actual show.

The show was absolutely worth the money - Vivian can play the hell out of the guitar and Andrew Freeman SMOKES as the lead singer.  Second to seeing Ronnie live, he is a perfect fit for those songs now.   They played 5 from Holy Diver and 3 from Last in Line, plus a good 5-6 of their original songs.  I wish they'd play the title track from Sacred Heart.  They seem to stick to just those songs from the first two Dio albums.  I even really loved seeing Phil Soussan on bass, who played on The Ultimate Sin in Ozzy's band, who joined after Jimmy Bain died.  I was in the first row of seats and had a great view of the stage, especially as the majority of the crowd sat on their asses the whole night.  Andrew even called out one doofus who was sitting in front of him dead center and texted throughout the whole show - he finished a verse, then looked at the guy and asked if he was finished through the microphone.     He did thank us all for coming out and suporting live music - this was only their second show since February of 2020, but you'd never know they hadn't played since then.

If you love the old Dio songs, go see these guys - they do not disappoint! 

100% vouch for this.  I saw them about a year and a half ago, also in a small club (I was so close to Vivian it was awkward; he handed me a pick after the show and we were eye level.  Weird).   Andrew is from the Springfield, MA area, so he came out to the attached bar after the show and hung. REALLY nice guy.  We hung a bit and Vinnie came out too. Also nice guy.

[Anguyen92]

I'm back from the Rise Against concert. It feels good to be back at FivePoint Amphitheater.  That Rise Against show was everything I missed in a concert. Solid crowd.  Not sold out.  I saw a couple of tickets on Stubhub, this morning, of nosebleed seats in higher rows than where I was that was going for like $15.00.  Probably a similar size compared to when I saw Shinedown in 2019.  They went almost 90 minutes (which was already well worth the $25.00 for the ticket I paid. It may have been a nosebleed seat, but it was a great center view). A nice mixture of their new songs from Nowhere Generation, some old stuff, and their well-known songs and everyone singing along and excited for every minute of it.

As for the vaccine card rules, for now, the venue is sticking with the honor system. If you are vaccinated, you don't need to wear a mask. If you aren't, you are advised to do so. They didn't check for vaccine cards, but I'm sure that would change in the months coming by. I'm just going to continue bringing my copy of the card just in case.  Next show will be this Friday for Coheed & Cambria at the same place.

[ReaperKK]

Just saw the post on Incubus' Instagram that they are moving to an outdoor venue in Raleigh and requiring proof of vaccination or negative covid test. I'm happy about this because I was worried they'd cancel.

If anyone wants to read some hilarious comments look up Mike einzingers post about incubus playing with masks on. The amount of salt in that comment thread could supply the dead sea.

[Anguyen92]

Just saw the post on Incubus' Instagram that they are moving to an outdoor venue in Raleigh and requiring proof of vaccination or negative covid test. I'm happy about this because I was worried they'd cancel.

If anyone wants to read some hilarious comments look up Mike einzingers post about incubus playing with masks on. The amount of salt in that comment thread could supply the dead sea.

Jebus cripes.  Those people need to get over themselves.  I guess it's not just enough for a named band like Incubus to do what is needed to protect themselves and their fans to make sure that these shows run as safely as possible.

[DTwwbwMP]

We'll see how many of these shows actually happen....
2021
Sept 9 - Tremonti (opening for Sevendust) @ Starland
Sept 18 - Black Crows / Dirty Honey @ PNC
Sept 26 - Myles Kennedy @ The Vogel
Oct 19 - Neal Morse Band @ Keswick Theater
Oct 27 - Judas Priest @ Pru Center
Nov 29 - Dream Theater @ Count Basie
 
2022
Apr 15 - Transatlantic @ Keswick Theater
July 23 - Elton John @ Metlife Stadium 

[Anguyen92]

I, for one, wish that I can see Tremonti, Sevendust, and Myles Kennedy all in the same month, but that's a bloody lie since I already did that back in 2019 (saw Sevendust with Skillet in LA and saw Alter Bridge in Orlando and Raleigh in September of 2019), but I want to have that feeling again.  I'm just going to have to settle for seeing both Sevendust and Tremonti open for Daughtry in December (which I like all of them) and wait to see if Myles wants to do a tour on the West Coast before he either does a tour with Slash or make a new AB album in early 2022.

[cramx3]

Speaking of Skillet.... they just cancelled a concert because the venue was requiring vaccination and only vaccination.  The band wanted people to have a choice of negative test.  I guess for me, I should be happy that their local show is before the venue restricts access to only vaccinated.  If I'm being honest, I feel like while having the choice is probably the better way to go in terms of allowing fans to attend, cancelling a show is a bit extreme. 

Anyway, on Saturday I saw 311 and Iration at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden NJ.  I've never been to that venue before but it reminded me exactly of the Xfinity Centre in Hartford.  But being a smaller show, they didn't even sell lawn seats and I was actually able to score a late released 2nd row ticket for face value.  It was the closest I've ever been to 311.  What a great experience it was to be so close to one of my favorite bands.  The vibe was so good up close too with all the hardcore fans singing and dancing along.  Iration was pretty decent too, solid reggae music.  The highlight of the night for me was the huge rainbow that formed over the venue while Iration was playing.  I then also got a guitar pick from Iration.  And 311 played a couple of the more obscure songs to make a well rounded setlist.  Only negative, 311 went on at 8:50 and ended around 10:15pm.  It wasn't a full headline 90 minute set, or their normal hour 45 minute type of set.  Kind of a bummer.  But it was the first show of the tour, hopefully they build up the energy and perform longer as the tour goes on because I will be seeing this tour again this Sunday!





311 and Iration LIVE @ BB&T Pavilion, Camden NJ 8/21/2021

The upcoming schedule is about to really pick up, September is going to be wild if all these shows happen.

August 27th - Lynyrd Skynyrd @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
August 29th - 311 and Iration @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 1st - Alanis Morissette & Garbage @ PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
September 3rd - Avatar @ Irving Plaza, New York City NY
September 5th - Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers, Sick of it All, Suicide Machines @ Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park NJ
September 8th - Unleash the Archers , Aether Realm, & Seven Kingdoms @ Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, NY

[Anguyen92]

I'm contemplating wanting to see Goo Goo Dolls in Costa Mesa tomorrow at the Pacific Amphitheater (the venue next to where the OC County Fair would have been hosted at).  Groupon has nosebleed seats at $25.00, but I'm wondering if I can get it for cheaper early tomorrow on Stubhub like I saw with Rise Against tickets, last Saturday morning.  Also, I still have the Groupon voucher of their LA show at the Greek Theater (which has been postponed to next year).

[Ben_Jamin]

Megadeth is tomorrow and it's in an open venue. All they're doing is requiring masks.

[El Barto]

I'm contemplating wanting to see Goo Goo Dolls in Costa Mesa tomorrow at the Pacific Amphitheater (the venue next to where the OC County Fair would have been hosted at).  Groupon has nosebleed seats at $25.00, but I'm wondering if I can get it for cheaper early tomorrow on Stubhub like I saw with Rise Against tickets, last Saturday morning.  Also, I still have the Groupon voucher of their LA show at the Greek Theater (which has been postponed to next year).

Does the Groupon deal include TT&L? That show is definitely a buyer's market, but $25 after fees will be a reach.

Protip: After buying your cheap nosebleeds, check Stubhub before the show and pinpoint seats down front that won't sell, and then sneak down and sit in those.

[chknptpie]

Goo Goo Dolls put on a good show still!

Got Coheed this Saturday!!!!! 

[Lonk]

Goo Goo Dolls put on a good show still!

Got Coheed this Saturday!!!!! 

Didn't realized Coheed was so soon. I have Tickets for Sept. 19 and I was hoping it doesn't get cancelled. Enjoy the show!

Did you get to see Rise Against?

[Stadler]

I'm contemplating wanting to see Goo Goo Dolls in Costa Mesa tomorrow at the Pacific Amphitheater (the venue next to where the OC County Fair would have been hosted at).  Groupon has nosebleed seats at $25.00, but I'm wondering if I can get it for cheaper early tomorrow on Stubhub like I saw with Rise Against tickets, last Saturday morning.  Also, I still have the Groupon voucher of their LA show at the Greek Theater (which has been postponed to next year).

Does the Groupon deal include TT&L? That show is definitely a buyer's market, but $25 after fees will be a reach.

Protip: After buying your cheap nosebleeds, check Stubhub before the show and pinpoint seats down front that won't sell, and then sneak down and sit in those.

Shut up!! 

(I pulled that trick for my kid at Harry Styles at MSG; her and her two friends had individual seats, and I told her "go on Stub Hub, find a block of seats available and go sit there.  If someone asks you to move, ask to see their tickets".  They had decent seats for like 90% of the show.)

[cramx3]

Yeah, I do this a lot as well.  Depends if the ushers care or not to let you into the closer sections.  Or if you can sneak in if they are checking.  I got my super cheap "limited view" ticket for Foo Fighters a couple months ago for like $40 and half way through the set went down to the lower level and sat in what was likely a $200 seat.  It was a sold out show, but I assume the person left early.  Ushers didn't care, actually I asked one and he said they wouldn't be checking at that point in the show.

The big amphitheater by me definitely checks though, they have people at every entrance to the closer levels checking every ticket.  Used to be able to screenshot a ticket on your phone and send it to your friends to sneak them down, but now the barcodes move and they check that.  If you still are able to get physical tickets, that's another way to sneak down but actual tickets are hard to come by these days.

Anyway, I'm starting to have some internal debates about wether to see Lynyrd Skynyrd or Rancid/Dropkick Murphys this friday.  3 years ago I saw BOTH of these tours.  Rancid is my favorite of the three bands.  Lynyrd is playing in the better venue and much closer to home.  I can likely get a cheaper ticket to Lynyrd.  BUT it looks like Lynyrd isn't playing anything different than they did last time.  Seeing two bands also means more music.  Ugh.  Weather should be good so that's not a consideration.

[TAC]

I think Tesla is opening for LS. Not sure if you care or if that makes a difference..

[El Barto]

Yeah, I do this a lot as well.  Depends if the ushers care or not to let you into the closer sections.  Or if you can sneak in if they are checking.  I got my super cheap "limited view" ticket for Foo Fighters a couple months ago for like $40 and half way through the set went down to the lower level and sat in what was likely a $200 seat.  It was a sold out show, but I assume the person left early.  Ushers didn't care, actually I asked one and he said they wouldn't be checking at that point in the show.

The big amphitheater by me definitely checks though, they have people at every entrance to the closer levels checking every ticket.  Used to be able to screenshot a ticket on your phone and send it to your friends to sneak them down, but now the barcodes move and they check that.  If you still are able to get physical tickets, that's another way to sneak down but actual tickets are hard to come by these days.

Bullshit and attitude, my friend. Bullshit and attitude.

There's an entire reddit devoted to looking like you belong, and that will typically get you past the ticket checkers. If they're really being hardasses, wait until the intro tape begins to roll and the lights drop, and then blow past them while wagging your phone in their general direction. For a couple of years, when tickets were in PDFs, we'd just phony new ones up to get down close. They only scan barcodes at entry. To get down to the floor they just look at them.

A few years back I managed to pinpoint the only 4 available seats in a sold out amphitheater (20k). We spent the entire show in second row seats after paying $15 for lawn tickets. Normally we just aim for big empty sections. That one I knew those seats were going to be good.

Also, moving barcodes? Never seen that.

[Stadler]

There's a lot of truth in that post.  That's pretty much how I got on-stage with Gene Simmons.

[cramx3]

I think Tesla is opening for LS. Not sure if you care or if that makes a difference..

I don't know about any other shows, but they are not this Friday.  Damon Johnson is listed as the opener.  I don't love Tesla, but if they did open, it would probably make it a lot easier of a choice because that would be a solid 1 2 punch.  I'm not familiar with Damon Johnson.

Yeah, I do this a lot as well.  Depends if the ushers care or not to let you into the closer sections.  Or if you can sneak in if they are checking.  I got my super cheap "limited view" ticket for Foo Fighters a couple months ago for like $40 and half way through the set went down to the lower level and sat in what was likely a $200 seat.  It was a sold out show, but I assume the person left early.  Ushers didn't care, actually I asked one and he said they wouldn't be checking at that point in the show.

The big amphitheater by me definitely checks though, they have people at every entrance to the closer levels checking every ticket.  Used to be able to screenshot a ticket on your phone and send it to your friends to sneak them down, but now the barcodes move and they check that.  If you still are able to get physical tickets, that's another way to sneak down but actual tickets are hard to come by these days.

Bullshit and attitude, my friend. Bullshit and attitude.

There's an entire reddit devoted to looking like you belong, and that will typically get you past the ticket checkers. If they're really being hardasses, wait until the intro tape begins to roll and the lights drop, and then blow past them while wagging your phone in their general direction. For a couple of years, when tickets were in PDFs, we'd just phony new ones up to get down close. They only scan barcodes at entry. To get down to the floor they just look at them.

A few years back I managed to pinpoint the only 4 available seats in a sold out amphitheater (20k). We spent the entire show in second row seats after paying $15 for lawn tickets. Normally we just aim for big empty sections. That one I knew those seats were going to be good.

Also, moving barcodes? Never seen that.

Since you haven't seen the moving barcodes, I think you also haven't seen the "Karen" ushers either.  Specifically in the PNC Bank Arts Center, they are hard asses to check every ticket.  Last concert there (because I love walking around and not just sitting in my seat) I asked the lady "Don't you remember me by now?" and she didn't care for that question    It really depends on venue and situations like if it's packed or not.

[TAC]

This is an interesting discussion about moving up. Back in the day, I always upgraded whenever possible. If the actual ticketholder came along, I'd move..no biggie.

I got my very close 80's concert pics not because I had great tickets.

[Grappler]

This is an interesting discussion about moving up. Back in the day, I always upgraded whenever possible. If the actual ticketholder came along, I'd move..no biggie.

I got my very close 80's concert pics not because I had great tickets.

We went to an Ozzfest concert in 1999 and had lawn seats.  A few friends had actual seats in the ampitheater, and one would come back with the other's ticket stub and we all snuck up to that section.  He'd just escort us down one at a time and the 4 of us crammed into the area of 2 seats. 

Around that same time, I had 3rd row seats for Motley Crue's greatest hits tour in the spring of 99 in my college town.  We went early to see the opening bands and nobody was sitting in that first row.  We walked up and hung out on the rail, expecting to have to move eventually.  Nobody made us move.  i talked with the security guard, who was from the same area of the Chicago suburbs as me.  The guy must have liked us and just let us stay.  I got high-fives from Vince and Tommy and a pick from Nikki that night.

[El Barto]

This is an interesting discussion about moving up. Back in the day, I always upgraded whenever possible. If the actual ticketholder came along, I'd move..no biggie.

I got my very close 80's concert pics not because I had great tickets.

For about 3 years we really made an art form of it. It was the move to mobile entry that really screwed us. I suppose I should beef up my photoshop skills to get back in the game.

[King Postwhore]

Got 311 Saturday night.  1st show since Cheap Trick in February 2020.

[cramx3]

Got 311 Saturday night.  1st show since Cheap Trick in February 2020.

Nod your head to this 

[King Postwhore]

I wonder what set list we'll get?!

[cramx3]

I wonder what set list we'll get?!

Hard to say as they've only done two shows, but looks like the 8 "hits" are the standard and then you'll get 9 "random" songs.  I love not knowing what they are going to play.  Looking forward to seeing a different set on Sunday than what I saw last weekend.  Just sucks they are only doing a 75 minute set, not even 90 minutes as a headliner.  Iration was pretty good chill music if you catch them too.  I missed Iya Terra but I plan on getting there in time for them at the next show.

[King Postwhore]

I'm hoping to see all 3 bands. 

[Stadler]

I think Tesla is opening for LS. Not sure if you care or if that makes a difference..

I don't know about any other shows, but they are not this Friday.  Damon Johnson is listed as the opener.  I don't love Tesla, but if they did open, it would probably make it a lot easier of a choice because that would be a solid 1 2 punch.  I'm not familiar with Damon Johnson.

I'm not either, but isn't he the guy that was the "new guy" in the reformed Thin Lizzy? Then they changed their name to Black City Riders or some shit.  Not my thing, but the name rings a bell.

[TAC]

I think Tesla is opening for LS. Not sure if you care or if that makes a difference..

I don't know about any other shows, but they are not this Friday.  Damon Johnson is listed as the opener.  I don't love Tesla, but if they did open, it would probably make it a lot easier of a choice because that would be a solid 1 2 punch.  I'm not familiar with Damon Johnson.

I'm not either, but isn't he the guy that was the "new guy" in the reformed Thin Lizzy? Then they changed their name to Black City Riders or some shit.  Not my thing, but the name rings a bell.

I know Damon Johnson played in Alice Cooper's band. Yes, He was in Black Star Riders, but he also was the guitarist for Brother Cane. I think it may have been HIS band.

[cramx3]

I think Tesla is opening for LS. Not sure if you care or if that makes a difference..

I don't know about any other shows, but they are not this Friday.  Damon Johnson is listed as the opener.  I don't love Tesla, but if they did open, it would probably make it a lot easier of a choice because that would be a solid 1 2 punch.  I'm not familiar with Damon Johnson.

I'm not either, but isn't he the guy that was the "new guy" in the reformed Thin Lizzy? Then they changed their name to Black City Riders or some shit.  Not my thing, but the name rings a bell.

I know Damon Johnson played in Alice Cooper's band. Yes, He was in Black Star Riders, but he also was the guitarist for Brother Cane. I think it may have been HIS band.

Both of what you two are saying is true.  I wiki'd him.  Doesn't really make me any more interested though