Wow, that was a busy week of concerts. 4 shows in 10 days. That used to be how many shows I would see in a year! I'm going to try to tackle all 4 of them in one entry, so let's do this:
On June 17, I joined some friends of mine at the Hollywood Bowl to see The Moody Blues on their Days of Future Passed 50th anniversary tour. I was originally not planning to go to that, but about 10 days before the show, a friend of mine kindly bought me a ticket to sit with her, so I happily joined her. With the way things are going at this point, this may or may not be my last chance to see them, so ti was an opportunity I could not pass up. This specific show was special, as it was the only one on the tour in which a full orchestra would accompany the band during the performance of the entire Days of Future Passed album. It was a blissful performance, as it made me appreciate that album more than I ever had. I already enjoyed it to begin with, but I became more aware of its profound impact on music as I listened to it live. It was definitely a more enjoyable show for me than when I first saw them in 2013, since I am now more familiar with their discography.
On June 20, I went with my dad to see Roger Waters at the Staples Center. This was my first time back at the Staples Center since November 2010, when we saw Roger for the first time during the first leg of The Wall tour. After hearing his new solo album, I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect for this show. However, as I suspected, I ended being thrilled with the two sets he played. He played a little bit of new material, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear most of Dark Side of the Moon along with tracks like "Dogs" and "Pigs (Three Different Ones)." What impressed me the most was how he was able to take all of those songs and make the audience aware of how relevant those lyrics were in today's world, particularly with the current political climate in this country. That proved to me the timelessness of those albums and made me respect them all the more. This is why Pink Floyd will always be my favorite band.
On June 21, the very next day, we also caught King Crimson at the Greek. Since I had some of my own money from my job on campus, I was able to buy my own ticket to this one, scoring a seat in section A to the right, where Robert Fripp would be seated. As I sat in my seat waiting for the show to start, I looked out and spotted my good friend Rachel Flowers and her mom Jeanie walking into the VIP section of seats, so I had to go over and say hello. Before I returned to my seat, Jeanie gave me a CD of Fish's album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, a gift from a mutual friend of ours. I am so glad they were able to make it to the show. A few other friends of mine were also present, and I got to say hello to them as well. This show was a bit different from their 2014 show, as it included an intermission and a much different setlist. In short, this show was most definitely better than the show I saw in 2014. They played more older material, and I was thrilled to hear tracks like "Lizard" and "Islands" featured. This tour was said to feature 4 drummers. It did, but instead of having 4 drum kits set up, one of the drummers was on keyboards instead. That being said, there was much more incorporation of Mellotron, one of my favorite sounds.
The same day as that show, I noticed that Roger Waters would be playing a third night at the Staples Center on the 27th. Since I had a little summer money from work, I decided to buy a ticket to see it one more time, for the same reason as I accepted to offer to see The Moody Blues. It's just so hard to predict how much longer these musicians will be around, considering that so many of them have passed on recently. I saw no reason for me not to go, since it's summertime and I had my own money, so I went for it, buying a ticket in the same section my dad and I were in during the first night. On June 27, last night, I went solo to see the third and final Los Angeles show of the tour. It was a little odd not having my dad there with me, but I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was great to see Dave Kilminster again as well as Jon Carin, whom I saw with David Gilmour back in March 2016.
So, unless something else comes up, that's it for concerts until Yestival at the Microsoft Theater in August, which I will also be going to by myself. I bought my own ticket to that show too, scoring a seat in the second row behind the pit, in front of Steve Howe. I'm pretty neutral on the issue of whether it's "morally correct" for Yes to continue without Jon Anderson. As long as Steve Howe is still in the band, I will gladly buy a ticket to see them.
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