Been a long while since my last update, here are my reviews from shows in May and June that I saw - will add my reviews from New Orleans Jazz Fest and shows I have seen in July as a separate post.
[SIZE=10.5pt]Seen Recently (other reviews from earlier this year at posts #50, #116, #157)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Rob Thomas (May/NJ)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – this was my first time catching him solo for one of the last shows of this tour and the show did not disappoint. Just RT with two other artists for some arrangements, great hearing the MB20 stuff in stripped down versions alongside the same for his solo material. Put it this way: liked it so much, I dropped the $40 to get the official download of the show after I saw it; the show was that good.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Hunter Hayes/The Railers/Charlie Worsham (May/Philly)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – this show was the last part of Hunter’s 24 hours of concerts to bring attention to childhood hunger, an abbreviated show starting at 700AM. Hard to gauge any of the artists given that the show started at 530AM with Charlie, but it was a fun time and I would catch any of them again.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Buckcherry/Fozzy (May/Philly)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – only went because of the ticket price ($5 from the box office) and my buddy is a huge Buckcherry fan. It was my 2nd time seeing Buckcherry and they put on an energetic show. “Crazy &itch” is a fun song live and I’ll see them again, even if the ticket price is not so low. Fozzy was decent; had never heard their material, but it was good hard rock. Chris Jericho fronts them and has a great time with it.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Ray LaMontagne/Jason Isbell (June/Camden) [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]– wanted to catch Jason again after seeing him for the first time at Jazz Fest and his set did not disappoint. Jason’s wife Amanda Shires was there, so I finally caught “Elephant” live which was worth it for me. A lot of people around me who were there and had not heard Jason really liked it. Ray LaMontagne was good, but that music is not my style as it is just a little too slow for my tastes. Since I had no history with listening to him and did not pre-game, it was a bad combo to hold my interest and glad I had caught a significant ticket discount.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]The Hooters (June/Philly)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – free show at Xfinity Live (former site of The Spectrum), this band still sounds great. Played all of their hits and the crowd definitely was into it. Not the first time I had seen them, but I would be willing to catch them as a paying customer as well. Free was even better.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Journey/Steve Miller Band/Tower of Power (June/Camden)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – yes, this is Journey without Steve Perry instead fronted by Ariel Pineda. They still sounded great and since my DeLorean is broken and I can’t go back to see Steve Perry’s Journey in their prime, best we can do. Steve Miller Band was awesome to finally see live, all the hits were played and Steve can still shred pretty good on his guitar. Tower of Power was good as well, will try to catch them next time they are at Jazz Fest.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Peter Frampton/The Doobie Brothers/Matthew Curry (Holmdel/June)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – crazy that the opener (Curry) played as many songs as the headliner (Frampton). The Doobies’ were the best act of the night by far – they still can rock their 14 song set pretty good and this was the third summer in a row that we caught their show. Frampton’s nine songs included two covers (one was a pretty good instrumental of “Black Hole Sun”) and he sounded great, but if I was a fan I would be disappointed that he only really played seven original tunes. Not going to see him again. Curry was decent, but will admit that I am not familiar with his stuff, so it did not resonate too much with me.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Fall Out Boy/Paramore/New Politics (Camden/June)[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] – my favorite non festival show so far this year, went primarily to catch FOB but loved the Paramore set. Had heard some of the Paramore stuff on the radio before (so not a fan previously) and did some pre-game, but they killed it live. “Ain’t It Fun” that closes their set sums it up nicely. FOB was just as good – only complaint is that they are playing nearly the ENTIRE new album – would have like to heard a few other songs from earlier albums instead. But, my fault for not catching them until now. So far, this show was the best for my money in 2014.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]OneRepublic/The Script/American Authors (Camden/June) [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]– third night in a row catching a show, it would be hard to top FOB/Paramore from the night before, but OneRepublic on their own came mighty close. What a great band live, even the non hit songs draw you in pretty well. “Counting Stars”, their big hit from last summer was well placed 1/3rd of the way through the show and led the way for their lesser known hits to keep the crowd happy. The Script was solid (2nd year in a row we saw them open for an artist) and American Authors was pretty decent as well.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10.5pt]Boston/Cheap Trick (Holmdel/June) [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]– running on fumes (4th night in a row with a show) this night, glad it was two artists where you know 50% of the set list without even the need to pre-game. Cheap Trick opened to a “sparse” crowd so much that they invited the entire lawn down to seats in between acts. But they were far better this year vs. when I saw them open for Aerosmith in 2012. Boston’s set was full of hits and great – the current lead singer is a passable version for the deceased Brad Delp. Tom Scholz can still rip and as the band mainstay, is all over every track.[/SIZE]