The first concert we attended in 2009 was on Saturday, March 28 and featured about the biggest name acts available anywhere.  Even my mom acknowledged that they were big names and she usually hasn’t heard of the acts we see live.  We had always wanted to see either of them separately.  Together was even better and at a great venue like the Honda Center in Anaheim we couldn’t pass this up.  I’d enjoyed listening to both of them on the radio through most of the 1980’s.  The stations in Juneau liked to play them on the morning shows I listened to when I woke up and when I took the bus to school.  I never bought any of their records.  My wife had a few of their greatest hits CD’s.  They are probably some of the oldest acts we’ve seen, yet they’ve both been continuously popular.  They haven’t faded into obscurity like some other younger acts.

Like all concerts in Socal, the first step was getting to the venue.  We left around 6:00-6:15 pm and took the 210 east to the 57 south.  We had thought we could exit Katella but the Honda Center website said that Katella was often blocked off when there were concerts there.  Following the website’s recommendation we exited at the Ball Road exit, turned right (west) onto Ball Road, left (south) on Sunkist and then left (east) on Cerritos that turned right (south) into Douglas Road.  From there we thought we could turn left into the parking for the Honda Center as we had done in the past.  But some lanes were blocked and a sign said that only those with parking passes could turn left into the lot.  We followed some other cars and turned right into the parking lot for Westwood College that’s on the west side of Douglas Road, opposite Honda Center on the east side.  They charged $20 for parking, the same as they charged at Honda Center.  We parked close to one of the college buildings and followed the crowd of concertgoers across Douglas Road to the queues to get in.  As we waited we heard a security guard say that professional cameras with a long lens were not allowed, meaning that regular cameras were OK.  Security consisted of getting wanded and opening bags and purses.  We entered the venue and passed where they were selling merch, food, and where someone was selling tickets to a wine tasting.  We climbed up the stairs to the top level (400) and found the sign for our section (407).  To get to our seats we had to climb to the very top, to the back row, row U.  It was a long, high, and steep climb.  Still, the seats weren’t that bad.  They were on the left side towards the back.  We arrived at our seats at 7:15 pm.

On the way in we noticed that most of the other concertgoers were older than us.  Some looked like they were our parents’ age or not much younger.  The only younger concertgoers looked like they came with their parents.  I noticed that very few wore T-shirts.  Many men wore polo shirts or shirts with collars.  They looked more like they were going to an orchestra (though business casual) than a rock & roll concert.  A few wore T-shirts and one older guy wore a Beatles T-shirt and a “Hard Day’s Night” cap.  The concertgoers were mostly Caucasians with a few Asians also in the mix.  After we sat down, we noticed more people who looked to be around our age sitting in the upper rows.  I guess our age group can only afford the cheap seats high up in the back.  Well, they could have been worse.  Every seat in Honda Center was sold, even the ones on the top level behind the stage.  Talk about nosebleed seats.

The stage did not have a backdrop but was open all around.  It was curved in front and back and it looked like it was made of brown wood paneling, though probably faux.  The front had the lowest and largest space.  A few steps up and behind it was a narrowest space: a long curved ledge with a rail in the back.  Against the rail rested many instruments, some in stands: several guitars, a saxophone, trumpet and a trombone.  There were also eight microphones stands set up on the ledge.  Behind the rail was a larger space with six slightly lowered panels.  The stage had long curved ramps in front so people entering from the sides could easily get up on it.  Above the stage was a large treble clef and bass clef that looked like they could be lit up.  Between them were musical notes in white lights against a black background.  This setup mixed in with large banks of spotlights and speakers.   Another large bank of spotlights hung above the first few rows of floor seats.  Canned music played over the speaker including the song “Laid” by James.  In early October we saw the band James perform at the House of Blues Anaheim.

Around 7:40 pm a couple of guys came by and said we were in their seats.  It turned out we had sat down in section 408 by mistake.  We hastily made our way to the top level of row 407 as the lights dimmed and the canned music got louder and mellower at the same time.  On stage two large motorized sliding trap doors opened and two large black grand pianos rose through them.  They were set up so that the players would face each other and the audience in front of the stage would see them from the side.  The audience cheered and cheered even more loudly as Billy Joel and Elton John walked on stage from opposite sides and sat down at the pianos, Elton John at the one on the left and Billy Joel at the one on the right.  They then started playing and singing Elton John’s “Your Song” with only their piano playing for accompaniment.  Billy Joel sang the first verse, Elton John sang the next and they alternated vocals.  Meanwhile we made our way to our seats.  It was hard because the only light on in the venue were the spotlights on Billy Joel and Elton John.  We made it to the top (back row) of section 407 and, to get to our seats, we went behind them and climbed over.  The performers then sang and played Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” again alternating vocals and with only piano accompaniment.  Through my binoculars I saw that Billy Joel was wearing a gray suit, black shirt and no tie.  Elton John wore black pants and what looked like a black shirt or suit coat with long tails in the back.  There was writing in bright yellow letters on the back of his shirt/coat.  He also wore slightly tinted sunglasses, an earring, and had bright blond short hair.  Toward the end of the song a saxophone player joined them on stage.  He wore a black pinstriped suit and red shoes.

Things got brighter for the next song, Elton John’s mellow but more grandiose “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”.  Orange, red, and yellow spotlights shined on stage.  Other lights shined out on the audience and we were not longer sitting in the dark but in a virtual sunset.  The lights alternated blue and green.  Out of the panels in the back of the stage rose a drummer with full kit, keyboard player with keyboards, and standing percussionist with a set of congas and other instruments.  A guitarist, bassist and other musicians joined them on the narrow midstage.  Elton John and Billy Joel again sang alternate verses.  At the end of the song the audience on the floor gave them a standing ovation.  Elton John and Billy Joel got up and conferred a bit before sitting back down at their pianos.  Billy Joel would always refer to his co-performer as “Sir Elton John.”  They started playing their pianos very fast and went into a rockin’ version of “California Here I Come”.  The audience clapped out the rhythm and the spotlights shone purple and red.  The music then changed into Billy Joel’s “My Life” that mentions the West Coast and L.A.  The musical notes in lights and their black background that hung above the stage became a screen that showed Billy Joel and Elton John singing.  At the end of the song Billy Joel left the stage and his piano lowered back through its trap door.

There was the sound of wind followed by loud orchestral sounds accompanied by a loud guitar solo.  Elton John played his piano and soon added vocals.  It was a long, rockin’ song about having “this feeling in my hand.”  Elton John’s band consisted of a keyboard player, drummer, percussionist, guitarist, and bassist.  The guitarist had long blond hair and the bassist had long black hair.  We would learn later that Billy Joel would have a different band.  The steps between the different levels onstage also served as screens and green light flashed on them along with the larger screen above the stage.  Towards the end of the song the music got very fast and was accompanied by blinking spotlights.  The next song was the more familiar “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”.  Blue lights blinked on stage and images of burning skulls and dinosaurs moved across the screens.  Elton John added a long piano solo at the end.

Following that song, the sixth of the evening, Elton John said, “Good evening” and mentioned that it was the 40th year since his first visit to Los Angeles.  “I am so lucky,” He remarked.  He then said the next song was from the album “Tumbleweed Connection” and it was “Burn Down the Mission”.  I had heard the song at least once before on 100.3 FM, The Sound.  “Tumbleweed Connection” was in the Album Madness competition put on by the station.  It’s a slow to mid-speed song with these fast instrumental interludes where Elton John played some fast piano.  The screen showed religious imagery: angels and the Virgin Mary.  Towards the end they sang a loud, fast chorus of “Burn it Down” and the screens depicted flames.  Elton John mentioned that the next two songs were from the album “Madman Across the Water.”  The first was the title track that I hadn’t heard before, a dark, heavy song with a loud bass drum beat.  Blue and green lights shined on the stage and the song had a long instrumental end.  The next song was more familiar.  Before singing it, Elton John said he could only see the first few rows but still noticed that there were “many beautiful girls here.”  He dedicated the next song to all the beautiful girls and it began with him singing and playing the piano.  It was “Tiny Dancer” and the audience loved it, singing along to the words “softly, slowly”.  By this time it was 8:30 pm so Earth Hour had begun, though they didn’t really do anything to observe it at the concert.

Elton John said, “Feel free to sing along” to the next three songs.  He sang the mellow but very popular “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” with yellow spotlights shining on the stage and into the audience.  He then sang the equally popular and mellow but less grandiose “Daniel”.  Next he sang “Rocket Man” that starts slow and gets faster and grander.  Strange, psychedelic images appeared on the screen: large flowers in outer space, images of a younger Elton John, rows of pink flamingos.  It showed a rocket taking off with Elton John’s smiling face on the side.  Blue lights shone in the audience.  The song ended with a long piano solo and the repeated line “I’m a Rocket Man.”   Elton John got up to shake hands with some of the audience and then returned to his piano and played a solo to begin the song “Levon”.  It started slower but got louder when the rest of the band joined in after the first verse.  They ended the song with the repeated line “he shall be Levon.”  He played another fast piano solo that led into the loud, fast, and defiant song “I’m Still Standing”.  The screens showed a view of flying over a black and red checkerboard with white lines separated into squares on the sides.  There were blue and white spotlights blinking and the drum was loud and prominent.

The fast organ chords began the next song: “Crocodile Rock,” a favorite on radio morning shows in Juneau, Alaska when I was younger.  The screens showed images of cartoons.  Different colored spotlights blinked and many people on the floor stood up and danced.  Elton John had the audience sing the high-noted words “La la la la la la . . . . ”  At the end the screen showed the faces of the crowd singing.  After they finished the band left the stage.  Elton John bowed and left and the lights went dark.  The screen showed the words “Elton wows em”.

The spotlights shone onstage revealing a different band.  They played similar instruments: drums, keyboards, percussion; but they had risen from alternate panels from Elton John’s band.  There was also a guitarist, bassist, saxophone player (same as before in black pinstripe suit and red shoes) and a musician who switched between trumpet, trombone, and background vocals.  Elton John’s piano had been put away and Billy Joel’s piano was there.  Billy Joel came out onstage, sat down at the piano and they played a fast, ranting song.  Billy Joel played some fast piano and sang about “an angry young man.”  I didn’t know that song, but I knew the next one.  With a “1-2-3-4” they played “Moving Out” that featured a very loud bass drum.  The African-American woman playing percussion picked up a saxophone and joined the main sax player and trombone player as they played and danced in the front part of the stage.

As the applause from “Moving Out” quieted Billy Joel said, “Thank you and good evening, Anaheim.”  He introduced a member of his band and would introduce others after most of his songs.  They were from many different places such as Brooklyn, NY; New Jersey; Indiana; and one member of the band was from right there in Orange County.  Billy Joel addressed the audience behind the stage.  “Those seats aren’t too bad, right?”  He turned to the audience to the side of the stage and said, “It’s you who are getting screwed.  Actually, you’re getting a lot of head.”  It was a joke since they saw the back of Billy Joel’s head when he sat at the piano.  He described how he was a solo artist so he couldn’t break up with himself.

A factory whistle signaled that the next song as the very topical “Allentown”.  It’s about a factory town affected by a bad economy.  The screens showed images of the inside of a car factory and American flags.  Billy Joel’s piano revolved around as he sang.  Before the next song Billy Joel said, “Thank you for buying tickets to our show.  We’re happy to have jobs.”  He explained that the next song was from the 1978 album “57th Street” and was called “Zanzibar”.  He wasn’t sure if it was a single.  It was fast and also sounded very ‘70’s.  It featured the trombone/trumpet player who played two different trumpets for different parts of the song.  The screens showed images of boxers boxing and baseball players.  After the song Billy Joel introduced the trumpet player and spoke with a mock accent, either German or Norwegian, I couldn’t tell.

Billy Joel mentioned that the next song was from the album “Glass Houses”.  It was the mid-speed rant “Don’t Ask Me Why”.  They then slowed down with “She’s Always a Woman”.  The audience sang along with the chorus.  I wasn’t as familiar with the next song “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”.  It started slowly with the lyrics “Bottle of red, bottle of white . . . ”  The scenes showed restaurant employees setting up the table cloths.  The song got faster and sounded like old-style Nawlins jazz a bit.  There was a saxophone solo.  The sax player and other horn players would wave goodbye when Billy Joel sang “Waving goodbye.”  Towards the end they went back to the slow part from the beginning “Bottle of red, bottle of white . . . ”  For the next song they performed the fast, fun “River of Dreams” that begins “In the middle of the night, I got walking in my sleep . . . ”  The song seemed louder with more sound then I’m used to hearing in it.  In the middle of the song they did one verse and chorus of the Beach Boy’s “California Girls.”  Billy Joel finished the song with a long piano solo.

Billy Joel stood up and his piano went back down its trap door.  The staff set up a microphone, handed him a guitar and they performed the fast, kinetic “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”  On the screen they showed pictures of everything mentioned in the song: Joseph Stalin, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television, etc.  But for “England’s got a new queen” they showed a picture of a young Elton John.  During the last chorus, they just showed fire on the screen.  Billy Joel put down his guitar and the band played some blues music.  Billy Joel sang the lines “What does it mean?” and “It doesn’t mean anything”.  The song quickly turned into “It’s still Rock and Roll to me.”  During the instrumental parts Billy Joel tossed and spun his microphone stand.  At the end he threw it high across the stage where it was caught by a staffer.  Billy Joel’s piano returned and they played the fun but slightly morbid “Only the Good Die Young”.  At the end the entire band stood in the front part of the stage and bowed.  Billy Joel said, “Thank you, Orange County” and the lights went out.  It was 10:30 pm.

The cheering and applause were loud and it didn’t take long for the stage lights to turn back on to reveal Elton John, Billy Joel, and both their bands combined.  The back of the stage had two keyboard players, two drummers, and two percussionists.  Midstage there were two bassists, two guitarists, and several other musicians.  There was only one main saxophone player, though, the one introduced by Billy Joel with the black pinstripe suit and red shoes.  Elton John was wearing a different black suitcoat or shirt with tails.  This one didn’t have the yellow writing on the back but just had what looked like streaks of gold glitter.  They played Elton John’s song “That’s Why they Call it the Blues.”  It sounded faster than the familiar recorded version.  Naturally, blue lights shone around the stage.  They then did the more upbeat Billy Joel song “Uptown Girl”.  I could see Billy Joel flexing his arm muscles when he sang the line “I’m not so tough.”  With these two songs they alternated singing verses as they did for the songs at the beginning.  The next song started with fast and fun music from the bands.  Both Elton John and Billy Joel climbed on top of their pianos.  Elton John climbed down and they performed “The Bitch is Back”, a loud and fast song accompanied by fast blinking lights.  Billy Joel’s sax player did a solo.  They then performed Billy Joel’s ranting song “You May be Right” that had very loud piano playing.

The loud piano continued and they performed Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.”  The spotlights shone purple, blue, orange, and white.  Billy Joel’s piano revolved.  Blue spotlights shone on half the audience and white shone on the other half.  When each loud piano note of the chorus played the color switched: the white half turned blue and the blue half white.  They ended the song with dueling piano solos.  They then wished everyone in the audience with a birthday “happy birthday” and for them (“Rather than the usual song” as Elton John said) they performed the Beatles song “You Say it’s Your Birthday.”  They followed that with another Beatles song, the fast “Back in the USSR”.  The band left after that song and with only their pianos for accompaniment, Elton John and Billy Joel performed “Candle in the Wind”.  They alternated singing verses as they had for the past several songs.  Billy Joel sang soulfully and the audience sang along with the chorus.  For the next song, that would be the last, Billy Joel had a harmonica set up so he could play it without holding it.  I think it was around his neck but I couldn’t tell even with binoculars.  They then performed Billy Joel’s signature tune “Piano Man”.  Even though it was just the two of them playing pianos and harmonica, the sound seemed to fill up the venue.  The audience sang along.  I don’t remember what was one the screens, just the great music.  Towards the end, Elton John improvised one of the lines a bit: “You’re a very good crowd for a Saturday . . . ”  They finished, bowed, and left the stage to a long standing ovation.  It was 11:13 pm.

The lights went out, the audience cheered and it seemed as if there might even be another encore, but soon the lights came back on and the canned music returned.  It took a while to work our way through the crowd of middle-aged people down the stairs, out of the Honda Center and across Douglas Road to the Westwood College parking lot.  Traffic was jammed all through the lot.  When we finally reached the exit to the street, we could only turn left (north) onto Douglas Road.  They seemed to have turned it into a one-way street as it veered left (west) into Cerritos Ave.  We carefully merged to the rightmost lane and turned right (north) on Sunkist.  Next we turned right (east) on Ball Road.  To get on the 57 freeway north, we stayed towards the right.  The entrance is on the right side after the entrance to go south and after driving under the freeway.  It’s one of those loops.  We made it home after 12 am on Sunday, March 29, 2009.

Well, Billy Joel and Elton John put on an impressive show.  Not bad for a couple of 59- and 60-year olds.  Our cousin with whom we discussed the concert later said Elton John should have introduced his band as Billy Joel did.  They didn’t perform all the songs that we knew such as Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time” and Elton John’s “Sad Songs they say So Much” but they did many of the big songs along with a few lesser known ones.  We’re glad Billy Joel did the very timely “Allentown”.  It was also cool to see them singing and performing each other’s songs.

Yeah, “Moving Out” of the parking lot was difficult but it turned out that “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” traffic.

On Tuesday, November 11 (Veteran’s Day) we saw the Kaiser Chiefs perform at the Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood.  The Kaiser Chiefs are from Leeds, England and we first heard them on the radio station Indie 103.1 about four years ago.  They’ve released albums in 2005, 2007, and, most recently on October 28, 2008.  This show was billed as “Indie 103.1 Presents the Kaiser Chiefs.”  Getting to the venue took less time than expected.  We left Azusa at around 6:10 pm, took the 10 west to the 101 north and exited at Hollywood Boulevard.  There wasn’t very much traffic probably because it was a holiday.  We parked in the lot on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard between El Centro Avenue and Argyle Avenue where we had to pay an $8 flat rate.  After parking, we queued up near the corner of El Centro and Hollywood.  It was 6:55 pm, five minutes before the doors were scheduled to open.

By the time we had queued up, a venue employee was already going down the queue scanning tickets with a hand scanner.  Another employee asked if anyone planned to drink alcohol.  She checked the ID’s of and gave wristbands to those who answered “yes.”  We later found out that there were actually two queues: one longer one for us who had tickets and a shorter one for the Will Call or guest list.  There was no queue to buy tickets because, as we heard an employee say, the show was sold out.  This was quite a change from when we saw Swervedriver at the Music Box back on late May.  Perhaps this meant they would open the balcony this time.  At 7 pm the queue started moving, right on schedule.  They told us to empty our pockets and we went through the usual “pat down” security.

After we entered the venue, my wife went to get some merch while I went to find us seats on the balcony that we hoped would be open.  I went up one flight of stairs, tried a door but it was locked.  A venue employee told me to go up the second flight of stairs to the side.  He said the balcony was first-come-first-serve and that we couldn’t hold seats.  When I reached the top of the balcony, only the front row was full.  I got a couple of seats in the second row from the front on the left side of the middle section.  They were next to a defective seat.  One of the seats I got was also a bit defective.  The cushion caused me to lean to the left.  Eventually, I rolled up my jacket and put it on the left to even it out, though it was cold in the venue.

The crowd consisted of Caucasians our age or younger.   I didn’t see any young enough to be teenagers.  There were some people who looked older than us and it was about even between men and women.  Behind us in the queue was a group of women who sounded like they were speaking Russian.  I also heard someone in the will call/ guest list queue speak with an English accent.  The venue looked pretty much the same as when we saw Swervedriver.  Rather than the venue logo, they shined the Indie 103.1 logo on the red curtain over the stage.  The balcony had red fold-down seats that fit in with the general blue-red-gold color scheme of the venue’s interior.  On the backs of the seats were “Logo hooks” for hanging purses and things, a great idea.  The walls up there also had the red and gold swirling waves painted on them.  We also noticed that they shined lights on the upper walls to the sides of the stage that looked like musical notes, treble clefs and measures.  This time there weren’t any DJ’s on the platform to the left of the stage.  But they still had canned music such as “I Can’t Even Be Bothered” by the Charlatans, the original version of Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down” and “Up the Junction” by Squeeze.

After my wife finished getting merch and sat down in a seat I saved I went back to the ground floor to use the restroom.  When I returned I looked at the console of electrical switches at the top of the balcony and saw a printed schedule.  It said:    Doors Open        7:00
                    Hockey            8:15-9:00
                    Kaiser Chiefs        9:30-11:00
By 8:10 the balcony was over half full and at 8:20 the lights timed and the curtain rose.  The background was black and across it was the words “Kaiser Chiefs” in large letters.  But onstage was the opening act, the band Hockey.  They consisted of a drummer in a football T-shirt (the Rams possibly), guitarist, vocalist who didn’t play an instrument other than help play drums for parts of some songs, and bassist.  The bass drum had the letters “HKY” on it.  In addition to Hockey’s equipment, there was an elevated covered drum kit behind them along with other covered equipment presumably for the Kaiser Chiefs.  The first song they played was very rhythmic and fast and all their other songs would be like this.  When they finished the first song the vocalist said, “We’re called Hockey.”  He spoke with what sounded like an accent but later proved to be just a way of speaking.  The next two songs were also loud, rhythmic, fast, and very vocal.  The vocalist sang fast and at times it sounded like he was rapping and, other times, screaming.  One of the first three songs was called “Work” and included the line “Work Work Work, too much work for me.”  It was like the story of my life.

Before the next song the bassist said in a clear American accent, “We’re from Portland, Oregon here for this one show.”  The vocalist then explained that the next song was called Matthew McConaughey and was about the movie industry.  The chorus had them sing “Matthew McConaug”, pause, and then shout “Hey.”  The music seemed to include some electronic sounds from a keyboard, though no keyboardist was visible.  The next song, “I Want To Be Black”, had lots of rapping from the vocalist that seemed to tell a story.  Before singing, they mentioned that it was a new song.  Hockey had used just the colored spotlights for visual effects.  Included in their set was a catchy song called “Song Away.”  With their strong bass sounds their music could be classified as funk.  Overall, they’re probably the best opening band we’ve seen this year.  Before the last song the vocalist and the bassist seemed to be talking at the same time unsure who was supposed to speak.  One of them mentioned that they would be back for a show at the Troubadour in December.  Their last song got louder and faster as it went along.  The vocalist and the bassist moved around the stage.  They finished, thanked us and the Kaiser Chiefs, and the curtain fell at 8:55 pm.

By 9:30 the balcony was almost full and we could see that the floor in front of the stage was very crowded, much more crowded than when we saw Swervedriver.  At 9:30 the balcony lights dimmed and the curtain rose.  The stage was empty except for the drum kit and equipment that had previously been covered.  Canned guitar music played as the Kaiser Chiefs came out to their places.  The vocalist, Ricky Wilson, quickly raised his arms to excite the crowd and they went straight into their first number “Spanish Metal”.  The band consisted of the vocalist, Ricky, guitarist Andrew “Whitey” White, bassist Simon Rix, and drummer Nick Hodgson who also sang background vocals.  Ricky would move about the stage while singing and pick up tambourines during the guitar solos.  During the next song, “Everything is Average Nowadays”, he walked into the crowd and was held up by either them or security.

Before the third song, Ricky explained that they were one man down.  Their keyboard player, Peanut, had an appendectomy in Brazil earlier in the tour.  Ricky introduced Roger, “Peanut’s Roady”, who would be filling in for him on keyboard.  Roger looked older than the others in the band.  One of the other band members mentioned that even though Peanut couldn’t make it, his hat did and he indicated a black felt hat on top of a speaker near the keyboard.  They played the very fast song “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” using blue and purple spotlights during the verses and fast blinking white lights during the chorus.  At the end Ricky threw the microphone stand high in the air.  After it came down it had to be replaced.  They played the equally fast “Heat Dies Down.”  Whitey had switched to a different guitar and the song had prominent guitar riffs.  They then played the more vocal “Can’t Say What I Mean” and used blue and red spotlights.  They appropriately used red spotlights for the next song, “Ruby”, a single off their second album.  Ricking was jumping up and down and got the whole crowd on the floor jumping.  He picked up a mambo bell for the next song “Modern Way” that was also fast and had a strong rhythm.

The next song, “Thank You Very Much” began with a loud guitar and flashing lights.  They slowed just a bit for the one after that, “Time-Honored Tradition”, at least for the verses that Ricky also sang in a lower register.  They sped up when he sang “Oh-oh, oh-oh . . .” and he again picked up a mambo bell for the guitar solo.  Before the next song Ricky mentioned that Peanut was the one who got the audience clapping and since he wasn’t here we’d have to clap on our own.  We clapped as they played “Good Days, Bad Days” with Roger’s keyboard also providing rhythm.  They then did the very fast song “Na Na Na Na Naa” with Ricky and Nick singing the chorus (also the title) at their highest registers of the concert.  Fast-blinking spotlights accompanied the song.  It ended with Nick’s loud drumming that carried into the next song “I Predict a Riot”, a hit single from their first album.  They did the first verse without drums and then added them for the rest.  By the end of the song the crowd was clapping loudly.  Nick and Whitey kept playing loud and fast into the next song.

We didn’t recognize the next song as being from any of their three albums.  It involved a lot of shouting.  About halfway through, Ricky motioned for the crowd to clear some space down the middle.  He then got down from the stage and it looked like he walked through the crowd on the floor to the back of it.  He had his microphone on a long cord and continued to sing.  When he returned to the stage he was sitting on someone’s shoulders and after climbing back onstage they finished the song.  He then said, “Thank you for having us, L.A.” and they played “The Angry Mob” that’s a bit slower than the others but still very loud.  It gets even slower when Ricky sings, “Tonight you will sleep softly in your bed.”  The last part of the song is a repeated chorus of a line that starts with “We are the angry mob . . .” that they chanted more times than on the recording, chanted a cappella, and turned the microphone to the audience to hear us chant.  They ended at 10:30 and walked off stage but the curtain did not fall.

There was solid cheering and intermittent stomping for several minutes, though I noticed a few people had left the balcony.  We were able to move one seat closer to the middle and the band returned at 10:35.  Ricky described how they just appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno when John McCain was also a guest.  “He didn’t win” Ricky said and most of the audience cheered.  “You’re so political” he replied sarcastically.  They then performed “Never Miss a Beat” the first single off their new album, a loud, fast song that featured Roger on keyboard.  For their final song they did the slightly slower but louder “Oh My God.”  It was another song that ended in a repeated chant, only this time it was “Oh my God, I can’t believe it, I’ve never been this far away from home.”  They shouted it loud and again turned the microphone to the audience.  At the very end Nick played the drums loud and fast.  They finished and all stood up.  Ricky motioned for Roger to come out from behind the keyboard to loud applause.  They all bowed and left the stage and the curtain fell at 10:45.

Leaving the parking lot, we had to negotiate many other cars leaving and pedestrians leaving the Pantages Theater where the musical Wicked was also getting out.  We drove north on Argyle Ave. and got on the 101 south from there.  There was even less traffic on the way back, definitely not a case of “Oh my God I can’t believe it, I’ve never been this far away from home.”  Rather, we “never missed a beat” with this concert: commute and seating both worked out.  No reason to “predict a riot” or expect “The Angry Mob.”  As of now, this is our last planned concert of the year, something that has become a “Time-Honored Tradition.”  What’s left is just the holidays and “work work work” but then, next year’s just a “song away.”

 We celebrated my wife’s birthday (actual day October 29) early this year by seeing The Kooks play at the House of Blues Anaheim on Monday, October 27.  The Kooks released their first CD two years ago and another earlier this year.  They’re from Brighton, England.  My wife first heard of them within the past year.  She read in an online music journal that they had a bassist named Max Rafferty.  He has since left the band and been replaced twice, though his playing and co-writing are featured on the two albums.  This was our second concert at the House of Blues Anaheim in one month and our third in three months so we knew fairly well how to get there.  This time there was no Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 or anything like that.  We just parked at Downtown Disney like we did for the Gospel Brunch in August.  We arrived at Downtown Disney at 5 pm.  It only took us one hour to drive from downtown L.A. but it probably would have taken us longer if we had left later.  Downtown Disney was crowded as usual with parents and young children and others.  We had dinner at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express that serves ready-made Creole and Southern food.  We had eaten at the sit-down part of this restaurant back in 2001, my first time at Disneyland.

The restaurant is right across from the House of Blues Anaheim.  As we finished eating at around 6 pm we could see a queue of young people forming at the foot to the staircase to the venue.  It was one hour before the doors were scheduled to open.  We queued up and waited.  Most of the queue consisted of young women, teenagers or not much older, mostly Caucasians, though there were also many young men and some Asians.  I saw a few parents with their son and/or daughter.  Some of the young people wore Kooks t-shirts.  At 6:20 they started putting up poles with chains to make it into a more orderly “Disneyland-style” queue.  They finished setting it up and let us assemble in it.  A venue employee worked down the line giving everyone wristbands.  She asked each person whether they were over or under 21.  If they were under they got a pink wristband, over they had to show ID and got a black one.  We had to show our ID’s but I noticed that she didn’t check ID for one of the parents.  Another venue employee announced that the band would be signing CD’s after the concert and they would be selling CD’s inside for this purpose. 

By 7:10 the queue extended outside the poles and chains, around the perimeter, in front of Tortilla Jo’s Cantina and beyond.  Some young people near the front of the queue started cheering and whooping.  It was ten minutes past when the doors were scheduled to open and they were getting restless.  At 7:12 pm, the venue employees started taking tickets and the queue moved briskly.  Security consisted of a pat-down, though I saw one employee with a wand.  We climbed the staircase into the venue.  They were selling merchandise for cash only at a table at the top of the stairs just outside the door.  My wife bought a yellow Kooks T-shirt and some Kooks buttons.  At another table they sold CD’s that fans could buy and have the band autograph after the concert.  The House of Blues restaurant was open and kept separate from the concert venue.  I went downstairs and handed my parking slip to a venue employee who had it validated at the restaurant bar.  While going down there I saw someone who looked like a parent tell her daughter and daughter’s friend that she was staying upstairs while they went downstairs.  It seemed like the young people were on the ground floor standing in front of the stage while us older folks sat on stools on the upper floor.

We entered the upstairs part of the venue and found seats at stools along the upper railing.  They were in the back left corner facing the stage.  Most of the stools in the back were taken by the time we entered since it’s easier to see the stage from the back than from the sides.  In the upper far corners they had mounted large screens that would show the stage allowing us to see the obstructed parts.  Before the performance began the screens showed promotions for Live Nation concerts including footage of a Mika concert.  The House of Blues was decorated similar to when we saw James earlier in the month.  The only difference I noticed was that they had cobweb decorations hanging from the ceiling for Halloween.  From the upper level I could read the message above the stage that said “Unity in Diversity” and “All are one.”  For the pre-show canned music, they played Blues, appropriate for the venue.

Unlike at the James concert, there was no curtain covering the stage and we could see all the equipment set up.  At 8 pm the opening act, The Whigs, came out on stage.  The lead singer/guitarist said, “Hello y’all.  We’re The Whigs from Athens, Georgia.”  The Whigs consisted of the lead singer/guitarist, bassist, and drummer.  They played loud and fast with the lead singer moving kinetically around the stage.  He wore a red flannel shirt and his longish hair partially obscured his eyes.  He had a loud, slightly lower voice, though he didn’t have a thick Southern accent.  They made use of the spotlights, primarily red and orange colors.

As we watched some employees gave these stickers to the group of people next to us permitting them to sit at the lower rail.  The seats at the lower rail were blocked off with rope and anyone who ducked under the rope on their own was sent back.  They seemed to give stickers to people who ordered many drinks from the bar servers.  As they moved to the lower rail we were able to move over to the stools they left that had slightly better views.

The Whigs continued through their set that seemed long at 11 songs for an opening act.  Some songs were more rhythmic featuring the drumming.  Others featured the bassist or the lead singer on keyboard.  Between songs the lead singer talked a bit asking if we were excited about the Kooks and saying this was their first show in Anaheim.  One song with the lead singer on keyboard and the bassist on guitar started slow and atmospheric sounding a bit like The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.  But it got louder when they added the drum and had an extended guitar solo.  Another song had the folksy-sounding line “I don’t care what your old man thinks.”  Towards the end the lead singer said, “You guys pumped about The Kooks?  We got two more.  Thanks for having fun with us.”  His Southern accent was evident in the penultimate number.  He sang fast sounding a bit like the verses of The Beatles’ “Get Back”.  They got everyone clapping for the last song, played an extended version and kept playing louder and faster.  They finished and walked off the stage to loud cheering and applause at 8:45 pm.  No curtain fell.

We had full view of the crew taking down The Whigs’ equipment and setting up for The Kooks.  The Whigs’ lead singer and bassist helped them out.  There were some cheers from the crowd, possibly for them.  The crew set up an elevated drum kit towards the back of the stage.  They taped white pieces of paper to the floor near where the band members would position themselves.  At 9:05 pm the lights dimmed and the crowd cheered but it was just a teaser and they came back on.  We knew things would get going soon because smoke spewed from a pipe above the stage.

At 9:15 pm the lights went out for real.  We heard a guitar playing and lots of cheering.  I’m not sure if the playing was canned but the band came out on stage and with a “Hello, we’re The Kooks” they went straight into their first number, the loud and fast “Always Where I Need To Be.”  The Kooks consisted of the lead singer Luke Pritchard, the second bassist they’ve had since Max Rafferty left the band, the guitarist wearing a hat and vest, and the drummer who wore a suit and tie throughout the concert.  Luke played no instrument for the first number but would soon pick up an electric rhythm guitar and would also play a small acoustic guitar for several songs.  From where we were sitting we could see the bassist clearly and the drummer and Luke most of the time.  We couldn’t see the guitarist in person but could see him on the screens.

The next number, “Matchbox”, started minimally with the guitar and drums but got louder after the first verse when the whole band joined in.  Luke was handed an electric guitar.  The song contained the repeated self-referential line “The Kooks are out in the street.”  It ended with a line sung a cappella.  The next song, “Eddie’s Gun” started loud and fast and stayed that way through its short duration.  After wrapping that one up, Luke said, “Thank you very much.”  He spoke with a thick English accent I sometimes had trouble understanding.  “We’re from Brighton,” he continued, “We’re enjoying our time here in the Orange County.  We particularly enjoy the Mickey Mouse Police.” (Or was that last word “place”?)  “Maybe you can help us sing the next one.”  Luke picked up an acoustic guitar and they performed the slower but still loud “Ooh La”.  The song actually sounded more rockin’ live than the album recording.

They used only the colored spotlights for visual effects.  For the next song, “Sway”, they shined yellow spotlights from in front of the band causing their enlarged shadows to appear on the backdrop.  Like most songs, the song started slower and more acoustic but got louder by the first chorus.  In contrast, the next song, “Time Awaits”, began with a loud guitar, got faster after the first verse, and had everyone clapping.  It did get a bit less loud for the guitar solo.  At another point, Luke stepped in front of the speakers and closer to the crowd.  The next number, “I Want You” began with the atmospheric feedback of the guitar.  It got louder and more rockin’ with the addition of the drums and was especially loud at the end.

Before the next song someone seemed to be trying to tell Luke that his (the person’s) glasses were on stage.  Luke couldn’t find them but did acknowledge that one of the crowd said they were from Brighton.  The Kooks then did the more subdued and introspective “One Last Time” that began acoustically.  Most of the crowd sang along.  Before the next song Luke said he wanted everyone on their feet especially us watching from upstairs.  They then played the loud and rollicking “She Moves in Her Own Way” followed by the equally rollicking and fun song “Mr. Maker”.  Next, they played the equally loud but faster “Do You Wanna”.  The crowd sang along with the chorus.  This song is on the soundtrack for the TV show “Gossip Girl” on the CW that’s popular with young people.  This might explain why The Kooks are popular with them.  Luke got very close to the fans and reached toward them to shake hands.

The next song they played was “Naïve”.  When my wife got their first album and played it, this song sounded familiar to me.  I must have heard it as a soundtrack to a trailer or maybe on the radio.  They began the song quickly with just the guitar and soon added the rest of the band.  Before the next song Luke mentioned that the drummer performing with them was named Nick Millard and he wasn’t actually part of the band.  Tim, the bassist/keyboards for The Whigs joined them to play keyboard for the song “Shine On”.  The spotlights appropriately shined orange-yellow light and the crowd sang along with the chorus.  The next song, “See the World”, began with some feedback and loud guitar playing.  After that they performed “You Don’t Love Me” that was even louder and more rockin’ and stayed that way throughout.  They finished and left the stage at 10:15 pm.

The crowd cheered in fits and starts but it was enough for Luke to return.  He said he would play a few tunes and then “the boys would return.”  He had the acoustic guitar.  Someone threw their billed hat onto the stage and Luke put it on, thanking the thrower and promising to return it.  He performed “Seaside”, a slow but festive number.  It was amazing how much sound he created with just his voice and the guitar.  He’s really the dominant force in the band.  He then played a new song, “Princess of My Mind”, a slow, sad, and passionate number.  At the urging of a fan he tried to sing part of the song “California” that’s by another artist but recorded by The Kooks as a cover.  My wife downloaded and assembled a collection of their non-album singles that included “California”.  Luke couldn’t remember the lyrics even though the fan was singing along.  Luke complimented them on their voice.  Someone else requested the non-Kooks song “Young Folks”, also on that collection, but Luke said he couldn’t remember it.  Instead, he did a soulful, acoustic version of “Jackie Big T**s”.  Towards the end of the song he seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

The guitarist, Hugh Harris, joined Luke for the next song, “Tick of Time”, that was louder and more rockin’ than the previous ones.  Luke referred to him as “Mr. Hugh.”  After they performed he introduced “Peter Denton on bass” who returned along with the drummer.  The Kooks then played “Stormy Weather” that had a strong bass line along with loud guitar and bass solos.  They played an extended version that was nearly the duration of two songs.  Luke stepped into the crowd and they seemed to be holding him up.  They played loud and intensely and they ended at 10:42 pm.  They bowed and walked off stage.  The canned music coming back on signaled that there would be no more encores.

When we left, the parking attendant let us just drive out for free.  The concerts at House of Blues Anaheim continued to “Shine On” even this “One Last Time” this year.

 On my birthday, Sunday, October 5, we saw the band James at the House of Blues Anaheim.  James are from Manchester, England and came together in the early 80’s.  They had their biggest hits in the late 80’s and early 90’s with songs like “Sit Down”, “Born of Frustration”, and “Laid”.  They disbanded in 2001 and reunited to record a new album and tour in 2007-2008.  This show at the House of Blues Anaheim was the last show of their North American tour.

Getting to the concert was more difficult than expected.  We thought we could follow directions similar to the ones we took to get to House of Blues Anaheim for the Sunday Gospel Brunch in August.  We would be coming from a different direction since we took the 210 east to the 57 south to get to Anaheim rather than the 605 south to the I-5 south.  From the 57 we exited at Katella, turned right to go west on Katella Avenue, drove for over two miles past the Anaheim Convention Center and under the I-5 before turning right at Disneyland Drive.  We had a little trouble finding Magic Way since there’s a couple of other entrances before it but we soon found it.  But once we got to where we thought we could turn left into parking for Downtown Disney, the lighted sign said that valet parking was to the left.  It said self-parking was forward and to the right.  This differed from our last trip there.  We followed the roads indicated by the sign and they seemed to be going to parking for Disneyland Park and not Downtown Disney.  So we turned into the entrance to the parking for Disneyland Hotel to ask the attendant what was going on.

The attendant confirmed that the situation was unusual.  Apparently, Miley Cyrus was having her Sweet 16 birthday party at Disneyland Park and parking for Downtown Disney was all taken up for that.  To park for Downtown Disney, we had to park in the Mickey & Friends parking structure for Disneyland parking.  Earlier that day we had checked www.imdb.com to find out what celebrities also had a birthday on October 5.  Besides Nicky Hilton, who we already knew about, there was songwriter Harold Faltermeyer (Axel F), rocker/activist Bob Geldof, horror writer Clive Barker, actress Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Theresa Heinz-Kerry, playwright/Czech leader Vaclav Havel, actress Kate Winslet, actor Guy Pearce, and hockey player Mario Lemieux; but no Miley Cyrus.  Further research revealed that her birthday is actually on November 23.  She got to celebrate seven weeks early and have Disneyland exclusively for her party.  The public had to pay $250 for a ticket to attend.

So we had to drive back down Magic Way.  We couldn’t turn around to go to the entrance to the structure so we ended up turning left on Disneyland Drive.  We made a U-turn where Ball Road crosses Disneyland Drive, also in a confusing area near the entrances and exits from the I-5.  Going south on Disneyland Drive, we followed the left lanes into the Mickey & Friends parking structure.  It’s a huge structure with an indoor ramp and lots of orange cones limiting where we could go.  We told the situation to the parking attendant and he reluctantly let us enter for free.  We parked on the next level, the Daisy section and had to get help from another attendant.  He told us to go to the other end of the structure, take the escalators down, and catch the tram.  We moved our car closer to that end of the structure and did as he said.  After asking another attendant, we caught that tram that was on our left as we went down the escalator.  The tram drove down some narrow roadway past still figures of Disney characters in Halloween costumes and among pumpkins some with lettering spelling out “Halloweentime.”  It soon arrived at its only stop, a square near the entrance to Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, and at one end of Downtown Disney.

We walked through Downtown Disney and it seemed fairly crowded given that Disneyland was closed to the public.  When we arrived at the House of Blues they had the stairs roped off for ticket entry only.  First they checked our ID’s and gave us black wristbands.  Once inside, I noticed that others had received yellow wristbands.  When the checker saw my ID she said, “Happy birthday.”  Next we went through security that consisted of getting “wanded.”  After we climbed to the first landing, they took our tickets.  We noticed that the restaurant portion of the House of Blues was kept open, though separate from the concert venue.  We entered the venue through the upper level at 7:30 pm, half an hour after the doors opened.

The upper railing on the upper level was surrounded by stools all filled with people who had come before us.  On the way in we had passed a table selling James merchandise for cash only.  There was also a lower railing lined with chairs but it didn’t look accessible and we guessed it was for VIP’s only.  The upper level had one bar in the back and many quilts and tapestries hanging on the walls.  Most of the other concertgoers seemed to be around our age with some older and younger.  My wife saw some kids.  There were mostly Caucasians, a few Asians, and about even numbers of men and women.  We went down to the lower level, the same level where we sat for the Sunday Gospel Brunch.  We found a place to stand on the floor about 5-6 people from the front of the stage and to the left facing it.

The place seemed different from when we saw the Gospel singers.  There were lights behind silhouettes on the back walls of animals, jungle, and tribal scenes.  The TVs hanging from the ceiling showed the 7th inning of the American League Division Series (ALDS) between the Angels and the Boston Red Sox.  A large, quilt-like curtain was draped across the stage.  Above the curtain were various religious-like symbols such as a gold urn with fire representing Zoroastrianism, a white moon and star for Islam, an Asian symbol in red, the Virgin Mary, a Star of David, and the Yin-Yang symbol.  Above the bars along the sides blue chandeliers were hung.  A sign on the wall gave the capacity for the venue as 480 people.  I overheard someone say that the show did not sell out and that surprised me because it seemed so crowded.

At 8 pm the lights dimmed and the curtain opened to the opening band, Unkle Bob.  They’re an English band consisting of a bassist, guitarist, singer/guitarist, keyboard player, and drummer, all men.  They looked fairly clean cut.  The drummer wore a black T-shirt with a white cartoon rendering of the Count from Sesame Street and labeled as “The Count.”  For the first song, the guitarist and singer had acoustic guitars.  They started slow and acoustic gradually getting louder.  The singer had a husky voice that I didn’t find directly comparable to anyone else.  At times I thought it sounded like David Bowie and at others the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs, Richard Butler.  Their overall sound was slow, subdued, and pleasant almost as if they were sleepwalking.  Consistent with this impression, at the end of the first song, the singer casually asked, “Where are we?  Disney?  I think we might be.”

The background sported a grid of lights that we recognized from photos of the James show at the El Rey on October 2.  Unkle Bob did not use these lights and relied on the colorful spotlights usually using blue and green for the quieter songs, blue and red for the louder ones.  For the next song the bassist passed his electric bass to the guitarist and picked up a tambourine and drumstick.  This song was louder with a strong drum beat.  After the song the singer said this was their last night on tour with James.  For the next song they encouraged us to clap out the rhythm.  It had the repeated line “Say that you want me” and the bassist and guitarist contributed heavily to the background vocals.  The guitarist passed the bass guitar back to the bassist picked up an electric guitar for the next song that was faster with a strong drum beat and the repeated line, “Who do you think you are.”

The lead singer prefaced the next song by saying, “We’d like to dedicate the next song to Saul Davies for doing so much for us.”  This song was slower and began with the keyboard sounding like a piano.  Its chorus included the line “Out of the middle of a bad dream . . . “   The next song was “another new one called ‘So Strong’.”  Like some others it started slow and gradually got louder and faster.  Before the next song, the last one, the lead singer said, “Thank you very much for having us.  Enjoy James.”  It also had a loud drum beat and the guitarist looked like he was playing the strings with a capo.  The song got very loud towards the end and they seemed to work themselves into a frenzy.  They ended at 8:30 pm and the curtain came down.  I overheard someone say that Unkle Bob had cut out a duet that they’ve done at other performances.

The canned music came back on and the TVs showed the Angels in the 11th inning.  They had switched to showing the band during the performance.  As we waited the floor got more crowded.  People tried to squeeze in between us who had taken our places hours earlier.  Someone near us had gas and afterward my wife read a forum post of someone apologizing for that, saying that they had a burrito at an eatery in Downtown Disney.  At around 8:50 pm I heard some drumming from behind the curtain.  The canned music played the song “Spiraling” by Keane.
 
At 9:12 pm the lights dimmed and the curtains opened to James.  They played a lesser-known song, “Dream Thrum” that had a slow beginning and gradually got louder.  It had the repeated line “Oh, oh I’ve changed.”  James consists of bassist Jim Glennie, after whom the band is named; guitarist/violinist Saul Davies, whose violin looked like crossbow; lead singer Tim Booth who wore a roomy black knit hat over his bald head and a black blazer over a white dress shirt; lead guitarist Larry Gott who wore sunglasses and was also bald; keyboard player Mark Hunter; drummer Dave Baynton-Power, also bald; and trumpeter Andy Diagram who didn’t show up prominently until the next song.  They didn’t look like a bunch of guys in their forties.  Tim Booth was very thin, probably from all the dancing.  My wife said that Jim Glennie looked no different from when she saw James many years ago when she was in college.  The previously unused grid of lights was in full use changing color and with lights “moving” back and forth.  As they finished the first song Tim said, “Welcome to Disneyland!”

Tim removed the hat for the next song, “Oh My Heart” that was off their latest album, “Hey Ma” released this year.  Andy sang some background vocals.  Before the next song, Tim said, “You guys are really crammed in here.”  His loud whoop and a cheer from the audience began “Born of Frustration”.  He danced intensely during the guitar solos as did some of the audience, one near me.  The grid of lights showed a rainbow of colors.  The next song, “Ring the Bells” began very loud, got more subdued for the verse and then louder for the chorus.  Tim had removed his blazer and white lights shot across a red background on the grid.  The song got very loud at the end.  The next one was the lesser known “Senorita” that featured red spotlights, flashing blue gridlights, and Andy playing tambourine.  It ended with Tim whispering into the mike.

They introduced the next song as the title track from their new album, “Hey Ma”.  It began quietly with acoustic guitar and then got much louder when the electric instruments kicked in at the second verse.  It got even louder for the chorus with Tim wailing the title line.  Before the next song Tim said, “This is about birth.”  It was “Bubbles”, a slower song with a loud beat also off their latest album.  Andy played this panel on a music stand with a drumstick that sounded like a low bass drum.  The song got a bit faster midway through.  Tim ended it by hitting the panel a couple of times himself, one of the only times during the concert that he played an instrument.  They performed the next song “Seven” from the album of the same name.  Tim went to our end of the stage and reached out to the crowd.  The song had a strong keyboard beginning and the gridlights twinkled.

“Let’s change things up a bit,” said Tim before the next song.  “It sounds like I’m under water.”

“You sound great!” someone in the crowd answered.

“Thanks.  You should come up here and sing, but not this song.”

They then went straight into the beginning of “Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)”, a song that would get louder.  Saul switched back to the violin for the next song, “I Wanna Go Home” from the latest album.  It started with just Tim singing, Larry on acoustic guitar, and Saul on violin.  But they soon added a loud drum beat and bass line and by the end Saul was assisting Dave on drums.  The background sported smoke and blue spotlights.  They then did the very vocal new song “Of Mountains and Heroes and Men”.  Tim sang about rambling poets while sounding like one.  They didn’t use the gridlights but relied on red and blue spotlights.  The performance featured Andy prominently on trumpet.  For the next song, “Out To Get You” Mark, the keyboard player, played a small portable keyboard with a tube for blowing.  They used no lights other than the red stoplights.  It was a slower song that got louder by the end.  Saul ended it with an intense violin solo.

They did two more songs from their latest album.  “Upside” began with a heavy piano-sounding keyboard and everyone else subdued.  The song got much louder and more anthemic for the chorus with the music nearly drowning out Tim’s vocals.  Tim picked up a cowbell and drumstick for the next song, “Whiteboy”.  He waved his right index finger when singing, “Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh.”  Saul started playing the loud guitar beginning of the next song but then stopped because he felt something didn’t sound right.  Tim teased him by singing the line “Getting away with it all messed up.”  They had a little discussion about what might be wrong before sorting it out.  Tim asked whether anyone had gone to the October 2 show at the El Rey and there were many cheers from the crowd.  Then he said, “Well, we didn’t do this one,” and they went into the raucous beginning of “Tomorrow.”  The crowd really got into it, singing along and dancing.  But they got even more excited with the next song that Tim introduced as “a Thank-you letter to Patty Smith and Doris Lessing who kept me sane through my teens.”  Their performance of “Sit Down” had a more subdued, piano-heavy beginning than the recording but got much louder after the first verse.  I didn’t see anyone sitting down during the song.  Tim sang part of the last verse a cappella.  Before the next song Tim said something like “You all live in Disneyland.  There’s Mickey Mouse.  In Disneyland you leave all souls at the door.  We’re gonna bring some soul to Disneyland.”  He picked up a megaphone and started singing “Sound” and used it for certain parts of the song.  The drums were loud and Andy played lots of trumpet parts.  The gridlights flashed red and green.  They played an extended instrumental part to which Tim danced wildly.  They ended to wild cheering, walked to the front of the stage and then departed at 10:45 pm.

The cheers were loud and increasing and soon the band was back out.  Tim said, “We would have been back sooner but we have old men in the band with prostate problems and we’ve been drinking.”  They then played “Gold Mother” that featured a heavy and fast bass drum.  Tim used the megaphone some more.  He prefaced the next song as “an unabashed love song for Kate where ever she may be.”  “Just Like Fred Astaire” began with only piano accompaniment through the first chorus when everyone else joined in.  Tim’s vocals were loud and clear.  After they finished that one, Tim asked, “How long have we got?  Can we do two more?”  Saul asked, “What’s the fine if we go over?” and Tim asked, “Will we get spanked by Mickey Mouse?”  Tim said that they were gonna do “Laid” and another but then said, “We’ll do this because we don’t want to be the band that doesn’t do the song that everyone can sing along to.”  With only the keyboard and vocals they went through the first verse of “Sometimes”.  Then everyone else joined in, the singer and bassist of Unkle Bob joined them on stage.  Some young women also came on stage and danced.  My wife later read that one of them was the daughter of a band member.  They played an extended version, went a cappella for a chorus and then had us, the crowd, clap out and repeatedly sing the line “Sometimes I look in your eyes I can see your soul.”  They finished, walked to the front of the stage, bowed and left and the curtain fell for the final time at 11:10 pm.

We left just as the canned music came back on.  Downtown Disney was noticeably less crowded and the stores were closed.  We caught the tram and as we rode back we heard and saw the impressive fireworks from Miley Cyrus’s Sweet 16.  We didn’t get home until after 12.

With the initial parking problems our evening seemed “Born of Frustration” and we didn’t get to the concert until after “Seven.”  But that was still before they would “Ring the Bell” so we “Got away with it (all messed up).”  By the end we wanted to “Sit Down” and were thinking “I wanna go home.”  But overall the concert was an “Upside” and more birthday festivities were to come “Tomorrow.”

We went to House of Blues Anaheim Sunday Gospel Brunch on August 17 to celebrate our cousin’s birthday and other cousins’ first wedding anniversary.  House of Blues Anaheim is in Downtown Disney, a collection of shops and restaurants outside Disneyland.  It’s similar to Citywalk that’s outside Universal Studios Hollywood.  We got there by taking the 5 South, exiting at Disneyland Drive, turning left on Magic Way, and then left into the Downtown Disney parking lot.  The lot allowed two hours of free parking and we were able to increase that to five hours with validation from the House of Blue.  Once parked, we entered Downtown Disney, walked past the ESPN Store, turned right near the AMC movie theater, and walked by several shops until we saw House of Blues on the left.

The box office for House of Blues Anaheim is on the ground floor.  However, we had to climb the wide steps in front to get to where they took our tickets.  We then had to go back downstairs to get to the venue.  They seated all of us at two long tables in the back.  We then went to the restaurant/bar within the building but behind the venue.  There they had a long table with the buffet.  There were many items I couldn’t have such as cheeses, waffles with fruit and butter and pasta with cheese.  I was able to have many other things, though.  The eggs, bacon, and sausage were fairly standard breakfast fare and the pickled vegetables, jambalaya, and home fries were very good.  They also had a table where we could order omelets with any choice of ingredients.  I didn’t order one but others in our party did and they enjoyed them.  After getting our food we returned to the main venue.  There a waiter served us our choice of drinks.  The venue had bars on either side, both closed, and the room with the buffet also had a large bar in the back open and selling drinks.

The buffet opened 1 pm and the show started around 2.  The curtain opened to four female African American gospel singers, a drummer, bassist, guitarist, and keyboard player.  Another woman served as announcer/emcee.  The four singers wore outfits of pink, light purple, light green, and yellow.  The singer in yellow had these long fingernails that a baby in the audience enjoyed watching.  They introduced themselves as the Clara Ward singers and they mentioned that they were in both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian.  One singer said she had been with the group for 48 years.  The drummer and keyboard player were her grown grandsons.  They sang many gospel songs I hadn’t heard before such as “Ain’t Nobody do it like Jesus”, the more rhythmic “Blessed Assurance”, “Never Would Have Made it Without You” (written by Clara Ward), and “How I Got Over”.  They did a couple of familiar tunes: “This Little Light of Mine”, and a soulful version of the non-gospel song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as a tribute to Judy Garland.

The emcee and singers encouraged much audience participation.  During the first number they had us wave our napkins like handkerchiefs.  Between songs the emcee asked everyone with a birthday or anniversary to stand up and she talked to them from the stage.  She had fun talking to my cousins who were celebrating their first anniversary.  During another song the singer in green walked around the audience coaxing people to follow her back onto the stage.  Once there she had each of them give their “testimony” usually things for which they were thankful.  Some really got into it, singing along and dancing.  The singers would have the audience clap to the rhythm and sing parts of the songs.  They’d have us call out “Amen”, or “Hallelujah” or the spoken line “There ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost party ‘cause a Holy Ghost party don’t stop.”  For the finale they had everyone celebrating a birthday or anniversary get up on stage and dance their own version of the “House of Blues Shake”.  They gave an enthusiastic performance that would not allow us to be mere spectators.  They packed a lot into just one hour.