On Friday, June 27, we saw George Michael at the Honda Center in Anaheim.  This was the Orange County stop of his 25 Live tour, his first tour of North America in 18 years.  He had also played in Las Vegas and at The Forum in Inglewood earlier in the month.  We had been to Honda Center for a concert once before two years ago to see Queen+Paul Rodgers when the venue was still called Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.  We remembered having some trouble getting there.  But this time we followed the venue directions and had little trouble.  We exited the I-5 south at Ball Road.  The exit actually exits onto South Disneyland Drive.  This street intersects Ball Road where we made a left.  Just past State College Boulevard we had dinner at Taqueria Las Mulitas (see earlier review).  After dinner we continued east on Ball Road until we got to S. Sunkist Street just before the 57 freeway.  We turned right on S. Sunkist Street, drove less than one mile and then turned right on E. Cerritos Ave.  This avenue veers from east to south and changes into S. Douglas Road that goes right alongside the Honda Center.  We turned left into Gate 3 and had to pay $15 for parking.

The venue looks about the same inside and out as it did when it was Arrowhead Pond.  The signs are different and there’s a Honda car displayed on one corner.  Though it was crowded we got in fairly quickly at about 7 pm.  Most of the crowd looked to be about 5-10 years older than us.  The only ones younger were the kids of the ones 5-10 years older, and a group of who appeared to be college girls.  The crowd were mostly Caucasian women though there were men that came as part of male-female couples and there were also some Asians, Indians, and African Americans.  Inside the concourse were places selling the overpriced fast food and others selling George Michael merch.

We didn’t spend much time on the concourse and went to our seats in section 406 that’s on the upper level back and to the left of the stage.  We felt the seats were pretty good.  We were closer to the front than the back of the upper level.  We could see the entire stage that was all black.  In the middle was what looked like a large rectangular covering that draped down from the ceiling and forward across the stage.  I thought the covering would retract when the concert began because I didn’t see any instruments or sound equipment anywhere on stage.  To either side of the covering were curtains and to the side of them were large screens.  Below these screens on stage were gradual ramps that circled around to the front.  After we arrived they put out a small table on stage to the right of the covering.  On it were a few colorful things that I could not identify even with binoculars.  Over the speakers played classical music and soundtracks, strange canned music for a pop concert.  We identified the soundtrack to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and instrumental version of “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling”, and Ode to Joy sung in electronic voices.

We waited and seats slowly filled up around and below us.  The only seats that didn’t seem to be filling were the ones on the lower level in the center back section.  We waited past the 8 pm start time listed on the tickets.  The canned music started playing loudly and triumphantly and when the place was almost full at 8:46 pm, the lights went out and the audience cheered.  The whole venue filled up quickly after that, even that center back section.   Images of blue and red stars appear on the side screens and the covering that turned out to also be a screen.  The canned music ended and we heard an acoustic guitars playing.  It was a slow acoustic song.  We heard singing that sounded like George Michael with the main line being “Here I am.”  The middle screen turned a shiny red color, part of it opened to the side, and out came George Michael.  He was dressed in a shiny black suit and wore tinted but not entirely black sunglasses.  The curtains on either side of the middle screen had opened to reveal the large sections of the band on the stage and elevated platforms above it. 

George Michael’s touring band consisted of a saxophone player on the top left platform, a drummer and a guitarist on the middle left platform, and a keyboard player on the stage level below the left platforms.  Two guitarists stood on the top right platform, a percussionist with a full set of congas on the middle right platform, and another keyboard player on the stage below.  He also had six backup singers consisting of four women and two men, all African-American.  They usually stood on the ramps to the sides or on the middle screen with George Michael when they sang.  Sometimes one or more of the musicians would join them on the main screen, especially the percussionists with the congas.

Things got faster with the next number, a very danceable song called “Fastlove” with the catchy line “gotta get up to get down.”  The screens showed images of shimmering diamonds, disco balls, and beating red disco hearts.  They continued the dance theme with the early Wham! tune “Baby I’m your Man”.  The screens showed early black and white footage of George Michael and Andrew Ridgely performing at a concert as Wham!  Much of the crowd (the real crowd along with the crowd in the footage) was standing up and dancing.  George Michael sang an extended ending to the song repeating the line “If you’re gonna do it, do it right.”

They slowed down for the next song, the spiritual-sounding “Father Figure” from the famous Faith album.  On the middle screen the red outline of a female form swayed to the music.  Inside the form were what appeared to the red leaves and butterflies.  As the song ended, the outline of the female form disappeared and the red butterflies scattered across the screens.  They brought out a chair and George Michael sat down for the next song, a cover of Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw your Face.”  The screens showed white, blue, and pink curved lines moving up and down.  A small portion of the middle screen’s pixels went out but they had it fixed by the end of the song.

George Michael then addressed the crowd saying, “Anaheim, how are you doing?”  He thanked us all for coming and then said, “People at the top, I can see you all.  You look like you’re risking your lives up there.”  He thanked everyone for the last 25 years and said that with this show he would make us forgive him for being out of sight (i.e. not touring North America) for the past 17-18 years.

He mentioned how he didn’t perform then next song during last year’s European tour.  They then performed a song with which I wasn’t very familiar.  It had a fast dance beat and the main chorus seemed to be the line “don’t bring me down.”  The screens seemed to move through smooth and bumpy contour grids.  For the next song he asked us to help him out because “I’m an old man.”  The music then went to the opening bars of “Everything She Wants” and the crowd went wild.  Nearly everyone stood up and moved to the music.  He began a little slower than the song normally goes but the music quickly went to the familiar tempo.  While singing he would often turn the mike towards the crowd to sing parts of the song.  The screens showed images of many diamonds that formed outlines of spheres and the dollar sign when he sang “to give you money.”

After that popular song ended, the audience sat down and the backup singers stood in two lines facing each other in front of George Michael.  With them he sang, “One More Try”.  They sung the beginning more soulfully than the original recording.  Blue symmetric shapes moved up the screens.  George Michael sat down again for the next song, the slower mid-eighties Wham! tune “A Different Corner”.  The screens showed the sky with birds flying across it and leaves falling down it.  The blue sky turned to rain that soon became a colorful rainbow.  The screens then showed the night sky, stars and a red nebula in space and a large moon.

George Michael stated that the next song was for those who wanted to live their lives and “not give a f***.”  That less familiar song was “An Easier Affair” and it had a strong dance beat.  He followed that with “Too Funky” that also had a dance beat along with some appropriate funky guitar sound.  The screens switched between showing red, green, yellow, and blue equalizer bars and strutting models including Linda Evangelista, Nadia (we didn’t know her last name), and Tyra Banks.  The song also had a strong percussive beat and ended with the repeated line “Everybody wants to love.”  They continued the less familiar danceable songs with “Star People” from the album Older.  The screens showed colorful shooting stars that seemed to form their own galaxy.  The side screens had projected the image of George Michael on stage for most of the songs and this time they showed him among the stars.  The song ended with a repeated line that sounded like, “Why you want to tell me that.”

After that song ended at about 9:55 pm, George Michael, the backup singers, and the band left the stage.  A time with the words “Back in” counted down from 20 minutes for the intermission.  It was like the break between periods in a sports game.  Many in the audience got up to take a break.  When there was about five minutes left in the intermission a recording of George Michael’s “John and Elvis are Dead” played over the speakers and the screens displayed pictures of John Lennon and Elvis Presley.

As the intermission timer reached zero, the lights went out and the strong organ part at the beginning of the song “Faith” played.  The spotlights shined on George Michael, now wearing a grey jacket, and two of the guitarists on stage.  As he sang he snapped his fingers.  The screens showed arms with hands snapping fingers.  The crowd was on their feet, dancing, and singing along.

The next song began with a saxophone playing.  What looked like newsreel clips rolled up the middle screen.  The song was “Spinning the Wheel” and its lyrics sounded political.  The clips showed what looked like Grace Kelly’s wedding and footage of the late president, JFK.  The beat of the song got faster as he sang the repeated line that sounded like “one of these days, bring hope to me.”

They finished the song and George Michael complimented us saying, “You’re a f***ing wicked crowd.”  He then thanked some people by name for coming including Victoria, Mel B., Brooklyn, and Romeo.  He went on to describe how he sang the next song for the series finale of the TV show “Eli Stone”.  It was called “Feeling Good”.  He sang the song a capella for the first minute and then the band joined in.  It was a smooth nightclub-lounge type of song.  The screens showed images of hardly-covered showgirls moving and posing provocatively.

Between that song and the next George Michael said he would “Chat a bit while the musicians gather around me.  What you’re going to see is film I shot eight years ago in the Red Light district of Amsterdam.”  More spotlights came on revealing a bass player (playing what looked like an electric standing bass), guitarist, keyboard player, and saxophone player all standing or sitting around and behind him.  He then sang a smooth cover of “Roxanne” originally by The Police.  On the screens the footage seemed to have been shot with a dark red lens.  It showed the ladies putting on makeup and posing in their rooms from the doorways and windows.

The musicians stayed with him for the next song that was in the same tone: “Kissing a Fool”.  The musicians then returned to their places on and under the platforms.  George Michael mentioned how great it was that “in California we can get married.”  He stated that the next song was “for Kenny.”  The song, “Amazing” was a loud, larger-than-life song with a strong dance beat.  The colored lights on the screens danced quickly to the music and the venue itself seemed to shake to the rhythm.  The next song, “Flawless (Go to the City)” was also loud and fast with a strong beat.  The screens moved through colored outlines of right prisms that looked like buildings along a city street.  At the end of the song the spotlights turned off we heard what sounded like a loud helicopter.  On the screens the large image of a helicopter came to a landing and then took off.  The spotlights turned on to show George Michael in a dark blue police uniform with short sleeves.  He and his backup singers performed the loud and kinetic song “Outside”.  The screens showed the point of view of a helicopter flying above the high rises of a modern city.  A couple of buildings looked like the Capital Records building in Hollywood.  The song stopped abruptly.  George Michael said, “Thank you” and he and the others left the stage.  The lights went out.  It was 11 pm.

No one left the venue but rather they stayed, cheered, stomped, and waved their lit cell phone screens.  After ten minutes a spotlight came on, they set out a chair, and George Michael returned.  He sat down and sang “Praying for Time”, a slow song with heavy lyrics.  The screen showed the sun and sky in the background and ripples of clear water on the stage.  After finishing the song, he said, “You’re going to like the next one.”  The sound of the saxophone playing the first bars of “Careless Whisper” brought everyone to their feet.  We could hear everyone singing along.  The screens stayed black.  There was no need to show anything but the spotlight on George Michael.  The crowd cheered loudly as the song drew to a close and again he left the stage.

This time some people left but most stayed and cheered.  George Michael returned and asked us to make the loudest noise of the night for his band.  He thanked us again for coming and said, “I know many of you are going through tough times.”  He pointed to the screen and said, “This blasted thing cost me all the money from the tour.  I’m not doing this for money.  I’m doing this for you.”  He said there was time for just one more song and asked us what we wanted to hear.  We couldn’t make out anything in all the shouting.  We shouted, “Wake me up before you go go.”  Instead, George Michael sang the rousing anthem, “Freedom ‘89” that suited the mood.  The crowd gave him a standing ovation at the end and the credits rolling up the middle screen signaled that there would be no more encores.

We followed the crowds of people to the parking lot and then the lines of cars north to Ball Road.  From there we took the 57 North and the 210 West back to Azusa.  George Michael put on quite a show.  He didn’t sing some of his more familiar songs such as “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”, “Monkey”, and “Freedom”.  But he put all his energy into every song he did perform.

On Saturday, May 31 to the early hours of Sunday, June 1, we saw Swervedriver at the Music Box at the Fonda in Hollywood.  I first heard of Swervedriver around 13 years ago when my brother put some of their music on the mix tapes he gave us for Christmas.  He described them as “good driving music” with their long instrumental sections heavy on guitars and bass between lyrics.  Swervedriver haven’t put anything out for at least 9 years.  The lead singer/ guitarist, Adam Franklin, has done at least one solo album and some work with another band.  After a long hiatus, Swervedriver reunited for a tour this year.

The Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater is about one block from the Red Line subway station at Hollywood and Vine.  After having dinner at The Waffle (see previous review) we walked back to Hollywood Boulevard, passed the Pantages Theater where it seemed like most people were going to see the musical, Wicked, turned right past an $8 parking lot and got in line near the Music Box.  The line seemed fairly short given that it was 7:50 pm, 10 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open.  We were practically in front of the theater.  The guys behind us were there to see Film School, one of the opening acts.  They didn’t seem to know who the headliner, Swervedriver, was.  The guy in front of us had on a white jersey with black lettering, red trim, and the name “Satan” on the back.  We heard him mention to one of the guys behind us that he had bought his ticket for $30 and they were now selling them for $20 at the door.  As we waited some venue employees went down the line giving out purple wristbands to those who wanted to buy alcohol from the bars inside, checking ID’s before giving the bands.  The line moved forward at 7:57 pm and split into two lines: one for those with tickets and the other for those one the guest list or those needing to purchase tickets.  At 8:05 pm, the doors opened.  We went through security that consisted of a cursory frisking and entered the theater.

The venue is a fairly small theater that seems more like it should be showing movies or plays than concerts.  In fact, my wife and I had seen the comedic play, Late Night Catechism, there nine years ago.  I think the theater was called something else back then, probably just the Henry Fonda Theater.  I didn’t remember it being particularly colorful back then.  But this time the interior had lots of color.  The walls were painted a shiny dark blue with red and gold trim, and some green along the stairwell walls, sills, and the swirling wave designs along the walls of the main theater.  In the lobby and upstairs were some frescos of what looked like modern art: intersecting curved lines combined with dark green, light green, and white colors.  At the far end of the lobby they were selling merchandise for Swervedriver and the two opening acts: Xu Xu Fang and Film School.  They also had an Adam Franklin solo CD.  We bought some Swervedriver badges.  The lobby also has the only public restrooms in the venue.  Inside them were those attendants who hand you a paper towel and expect a tip in return.  They also sold candy and toiletries.  I avoided the tipping “obligation” by not accepting a towel after washing up.  It’s supposed to be better for the environment to let your hands air dry anyway.  Besides, what if the attendant’s hands weren’t clean?

The theater itself consists of a wide floor space narrowing as it got closer to the stage.  The walls keep the dark blue with red and gold trim pattern.  A large bar selling drinks was at the back wall opposite the stage.  On either side of the stage were these elevated deep alcoves.  In the one to the right hung a banner with the venue’s “coat-of-arms”, a design with the name “Hollywood” on top in a crown, “Music Box” in the middle shape, outlines of cockatoos on either side, and “Fonda” on the bottom.  This coat-of-arms was also projected onto the red curtain over the stage and upstairs on a wall in the outdoor section.  In the alcove to the left of the stage two young DJ’s sat at a small table and picked out the canned music to play before and between the performances of the bands.

The ground floor of the theater had no seats so we went upstairs to check if the balcony was open.  The concert did not have assigned seats.  Upstairs were two red couches along the wall with the doors to the balcony.  The employee near one of the doors said the balcony wasn’t open and whether it would open depended on the eventually number of attendees.  There were more stairwells on the side going further up but they were blocked off with velvet ropes.  There were also stairs in the back leading to the roof.  On the roof were a small bar and some chairs and tables.  This was where the attendees could smoke.  The roof had a pretty good view of south Hollywood.  One small (off limits) outdoor stairwell had a large iron 5-pointed star as its landing rail.  There was a large iron lizard sculpture along another outdoor wall.  We returned to one of the red couches on the second floor and waited for them to open up the balcony.

We ended up sitting on the couch through the first two opening bands.  The couch was very comfortable and we could hear the music fine through the PA system.  It was an ideal spot for people-watching.  The other attendees were either our age or older.  Some looked like they might be our parents’ age.  The attendees were mostly Caucasians with a few African Americans.  They were mostly men and many women there were part of male-female couples.  A few women came with female friends or with groups.  Some attendees came from other cities such as the guy in front of us in line who came down from the Bay area.  Another came up from Orange County.  I guess we came all the way from central SGV.  The attendees’ outfits ranged from casual to stylish to vintage.  In addition to that guy’s Satan jersey, there were many Swervedriver T-shirts.  We saw someone wearing a New Model Army T-shirt and another in a Curve T-shirt.  One guy wore a Lakers T-shirt with the message “It’s Gasol Good.”  Another wore a T-shirt for the Hard Rock Café in Makati, Philippines.

As we waited, more and more people entered the venue.  There weren’t many places to sit and some people tried to sit on the sills below mirrors that were across from where we sat.  Every time they did the venue employees would go over and tell them they couldn’t sit there.  I counted at least 19 attendees asking about balcony seating.  One said he had two artificial hips and another said he had a bad back.  Both problems would make it difficult for them to stand up for the entire concert.  The age of the attendees really showed and the song “Help the Aged” by Pulp that played as part of the canned music seemed very appropriate.  But everyone got the same answer:  not enough people.  From overhearing conversations with someone who seemed like a manager, we learned that they didn’t have enough attendees to afford the liability insurance to open the balcony.  They needed an attendance of 800 and by 10:10 pm they only had 500.  The concert was far from sold out, though the floor seemed fairly full when we eventually went down to watch the headliner.  I guess Swervedriver have been away too long.  We heard that they when they played at Coachella in late April that their tent was only 1/3 full.

The DJ’s played some pretty good music such as “Step into My World” by Hurricane #1, “Accuracy” by The Cure (who coincidentally were playing a show at the Hollywood Bowl that same evening; perhaps this partially accounts for the Swervedriver show not selling out), and “Let there be Love” by Oasis.  The first opening band, Xu Xu Fang came on at 9:05 pm and the quality of the music got worse in my opinion.  They consisted of four male guitarists (at least one a bassist I assume), a female keyboard player, and a female singer.  She was tall with dark hair, wore dark clothing, and had a low voice.  The stage was covered in smoke with orange and red lights shining through it.  The music was very loud, heavy, and dirge-like.  It could be described as “drug enhanced.”  A few songs combined heavy guitar sounds with lighter keyboard sounds.  They ended at 9:40 with a song that included lots of wailing from the lead singer.

More canned music played and at 10 pm, the second opening band, Film school, came on.  They consisted of two male guitarists, a female bassist, a male drummer, and a male keyboard player.  One of the guitarists sang lead and the bassist sang background.  Behind the band on stage they projected avant guard film images at the same tempo as their music.  At least they were consistent with their name.  They sounded more upbeat than the previous band.  Their beats were faster and the songs more anthemic.  They actually sounded a bit like The Cure.  The keyboard created atmospheric textures reminiscent of the Cure album Disintegration.  Despite being lighter than Xu Xu Fang, the songs still sounded heavy like those on the Cure album Pornography.  Film School’s lead singer also had a yelping voice like early Robert Smith.  Their set ended at 10:40 pm.

At 10:45 pm we left our comfortable places on the couch to stand before the stage.  For the past two hours or so the couch had been the best seat in the house since we didn’t mind not seeing the opening bands.  We did see many attendees unable to find places to sit as the theater got more crowded.  But now that the openers were finished we figured we’d go down while many other attendees went up to the roof to smoke before Swervedriver came on.  The scheme worked and we found some good places about 20-30 feet from the stage.  The DJ’s played “Black Night Crash” by Ride, a shoegazer band from the same era as Swervedriver.  They then played “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles from a much earlier era perhaps to appease the older crowd.  As we waited, the floor got more crowded but they did not open up the balcony.

At 11:12 pm the lights dimmed and the curtain rose to reveal Swervedriver.  They consisted of a drummer, two guitarists, and a bassist, all male.  They looked as aged as the audience.  The lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Adam Franklin, had cut off his dreadlocks a while ago.  The others looked skinnier than Franklin, but no younger.  But they didn’t sound older.  They started off the set with “Sci-Flyer” with its long instrumental beginning heavy on guitar.  Spotlights of red, orange, and blue shined in the background.  They followed with the more vocal “Sandblasted”.  The next song, “The Birds” was faster with more easygoing vocals.  They seemed to be hitting their stride.  During the applause that following someone yelled, “Welcome back!”

Franklin and the guitarists switched to different guitars, the first of many such switches, though they were all electric guitars.  They played “Duel”, a song I knew well since my brother put it on a mix tape he gave me many years ago.  The anthemic song showcases their reputation for “great driving music.”  The next song, “Blowing Cool” featured a heavier guitar and bass sound.  The lights shined designs of spinning spokes.  That took them to the powerful beginning of the next song, “The 99th Dream.”

The band members hardly spoke at all between songs only saying “Thank you” to the applause.   But that was fine with us because they sounded great, as if they were part of a currently burgeoning music scene rather than a relic of a past one.  They continued with “Behind the Scenes of Sound and Times.”  It had a characteristic long instrumental beginning but was unique in its use of feedback and steel guitar-like sound.  A heavy drum beat began the next song, “The Other Jesus.”  They contrasted that with the faster start of the next song, “Juggernaut Rides” only to go back to the heavy drum beginning of the next song, “She’s Beside Herself.”  This song built itself up with the drummer playing a march like beat, then adding the guitars, and eventually the bass at a point when it seemed like they “kicked” the song “up a notch.”  At the start the bassist seemed to be taking a break but he was actually getting ready to join in about a third of the way through.  The spotlights created outlines of purple and blue clouds in the background.  They next song, “Girl on a Motorbike” seemed to tell a story.  It sounded more “driving” than the others as was appropriate given its title.  The then got more anthemic with “Rave Down.”  The song seemed to get louder as it played and it sped up at the end.  The spotlights created spinning green lines in the background.  We couldn’t identify the next song.  It had a rockin’ start, slowed then, and then got explosive again in a hurry.  They song segued into a slower, more atmospheric instrumental that brought a the set to a close.  With bows and thank-you’s they left the stage.

The cheering, clapping, and stomping were nonstop.  No one left as far as I could tell.  Swervedriver returned and the cheering got louder.  With a “Thank you very much” they went straight into the explosive beginning of “Son of a Mustang Ford.”  This was the song they didn’t play when my wife saw them ten years ago.  She’d been hoping to hear it then and now, after a long wait, her wish was granted.  They followed it with the bluesy “Duress” with its instrumental beginning heavy on the drums and its use of feedback.  As they finished playing, the drummer stood up and said, “Los Angeles, thank you very much!”  They then left the stage for the final time.  It was 12:45 am, June 1, 2008.  The curtain came down implying that there would be no more encores.

Swervedriver didn’t play the song I knew best by them, “The Last Train to Satanville” from another mix tape that my brother gave me.  But they still sounded great and I gained greater appreciation for the songs I didn’t know as well.  The concert was like stepping into a time machine.  The band, the other attendees, and we had aged but that evening brought us back to a younger era.

We attended a gospel concert at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church (OLV) in Canoga Park on Saturday, April 5.  The concert followed the regular 5 pm mass and was sponsored by the Oriental Mindoro Association of Southern California (OMASC) with which my in-laws and some of their relatives are involved.  It was put on by three priests from St. Augustine Seminary (SAS) in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines as a fundraiser for SAS.  Father Mimo Perez did the singing and presenting and the other priests did the work behind the scenes such as operate the projector.  They held the concert in the church.

The event was kind of a homecoming for me because I used to attend the 5pm mass at OLV when I lived in Woodland Hills.  I recognized a few faces but not the celebrant, Father Lawrence.  Two of the priests from SAS (not Fr. Mimo) helped celebrate the mass.  Though most of the congregants left after the mass, the middle section of the church was still about half full for the concert.  They set up a screen with a laptop projector to the right of the altar.  They projected the lyrics to the songs along with related images.  If the song was in Tagalog, they projected the English translation.  I had thought that the concert, both the singing and the presentation, would be all in Tagalog.  If it was I could use the concert to do the “technology project” for my ESL instruction class.  I needed to put myself in a situation where all I heard was a foreign language for one hour straight.  But most of the songs and the presentation were in English so the activity didn’t count as immersion.  I’ll look into finding a foreign language film or watching a foreign language channel.

The concert began with the title song “Jesus in our Midst” (in English) with Fr. Mimo singing and playing guitar.  Recorded instrumental tracks acted as his “band.”  He sounded a bit off on the timing and the key and even admitted afterward that he “sang like a nun.”  His other songs sounded better.  He sang with a young girl from OLV a song about Mary, the mother of Christ and the girl had a great voice.  My wife enjoyed the song Fr. Mimo wrote and sang about being his father’s son.  He prefaced each song with the stories behind them.  He sang four songs in Tagalog including “Bulson”, “Buntonghininga” about sighing, and “Pariseo”.  He spoke and sang in English very well without much of an accent.  He also spoke very earnestly about his songs’ subject matter.  But he wasn’t always serious and he was sometimes self-deprecating.  He elicited audience participation by asking, “When did Jesus suffer the most?”  There were several different answers and he said they were all good.  He gave the generally accepted answer as when Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” because at the time He felt abandoned.

Fr. Mimo told a story about his interactions with the Mangyans, the indigenous mountain people of Oriental Mindoro.  He prefaced another song by talking about the painting by Filipino artist Joey Velasco of Jesus at the “last supper” with poor Filipino children rather than the disciples.  Mr. Velasco also wrote a book about the children and he asked Fr. Mimo to write a song about them.  The translation of the song title was something like, “They are the Ones with Him”.  I thought the song was pretty good even though it was in Tagalog.  I read the translations on the screen.  It had a strong message that Jesus is with the most poor and not the well-off.

Towards the end they had a video presentation of St. Augustine Seminary.  They asked for and collected donations and pledges of support.  They ended with a song about world peace where Fr. Mimo was joined by the girl who sang with him earlier and Fr. Lawrence from OLV who celebrated the mass.  In the lobby they were selling CD’s of Fr. Mimo performing his songs.  Even though it wasn’t what we expected I’m glad we went.

Now for the second part of our early Valentine’s celebration.  The first was our dinner at Adoro Mexican Grille (see the earlier review “Adoro Mexican Grille II).  After finishing dinner we drove west down Wilshire through the medium Monday rush hour traffic.  We passed the new school near Wilshire and Union and the new apartment and shops complex at the Wilshire and Vermont red line station.  As we neared the Wiltern theater we saw a line from the theater all the way to the corner of Wilshire and Oxford.  We turned left on Oxford and right into the entrance to the parking garage serving the Wiltern.  There was some confusion about getting in.  The attendant had us go through the exit lane and event parking cost a steep $12 but we easily found a space on the third level.

We queued up near the Denny’s at Wilshire and Oxford at 7 pm.  The crowd consisted mostly of young women, though there were also couples, mothers with teen daughters, and later we would see some young children with their parents.  As we waited some event employees were going down the line asking if concertgoers had floor seats and offered to trade them for wrist bands to stand in the pit.  We had mezzanine seats so that didn’t apply.  We saw a woman wearing a t-shirt with the homemade writing saying “Big Girl”.  Inside we would see other women with homemade message t-shirts.  The line started moving steadily toward the theater at 7:10 pm.   We passed a cart selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs that smelled delicious.

We went through “security” which wasn’t much more than a pocket and bag check and entered the large lobby of the Wiltern.  They were selling lots of Mika merchandise.  My wife was already wearing a Mika shirt she got at the Coachella Festival last year.  She went on a day different from when Mika performed so she didn’t see him them.  But she was glad to see that they didn’t have her same t-shirt for sale at the Wiltern.  We went upstairs to the mezzanine level and an usher showed us to our seats.  The mezzanine is above the also elevated loge level and our seats were in the 4th row behind the first in the mezzanine in section near left facing the stage.  It was stadium seating so not many worries about sitting behind tall people, though we still had to stand when those in front of us did.

The stage had a drum kit, some guitars on racks and a keyboard/sound mixing type machine on it.  Above the stage was screen showing ads for Live Nation, the producer of this concert, and a place at the bottom where concertgoers could have their text messages displayed.  More on this later.  The first opening act came out at around 7:40 pm with the leader say, “You probably have no idea who I am, right?  We’re Shwayze.”  The group consists of two rappers/singers and a sound mixer, and their MySpace says they’re from Malibu.  They performed several energetic numbers such as “Polariod” and “Buzzin’”.  They said they had a record coming out in June.

The second opening act was The Midway State from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  They were a four-piece with a drummer, guitarist, bassist, and lead singer who also played the electric piano.  They performed several anthemic, piano-heavy rock numbers such as “A Million Fireflys”, “Change for You”, and “Never Again”.  They thanked Mika for letting them tour with him for the entire U.S. tour.  They finished at 8:30 pm.

We spent the next half hour or so reading the text messages sent to the screen above the stage.  Anyone could sent one by sending “TXT” + “WILT” + (ur message) to 64066.  They included personal hi’s and hellos, marriage proposals, praise for Mika, political messages, and humor:

“SCREAM IF YOU LOVE MIKA” (Lots of cheers)

“SCREAM IF YOU LOVE PIECE AND QUIET”

“IF UR OVER 30 ITS TIME TO LEAVE”

“OBAMA IN 08” (Lots of cheers.  He seemed to be the favorite.  We saw one young woman with an Obama button)

“BARACK THE VOTE” (More cheers)

“HILLARY IN 08” (Mix of cheers and boos)

“RON PAUL STILL HAS A CHANCE” (No response)

“MIKA FOR PRESIDENT IN 08” (Cheers)

“IF UR UNDER 30 YOU NEED TO GROW UP”

At 9:07 pm the screen went black and moved up and out of sight.  The stage went black and then four blue lights spotlights shined out into the floor crowd.  More blue lights seemed to dance on a waving screen behind the stage.  A spotlight shined in the middle of the stage on a large white sphere.  The sphere opened to reveal a tall figure with curly brown hair, angel wings, and wearing a flesh-colored body suit.  The figure disappeared behind the drum kit and out came Mika (i.e. the figure) in a white shirt with suspenders and black pants.  Every concertgoer was standing and cheering at this point and Mika went straight into “Relax (Take it Easy)”

Mika, pronounced like “Mee-kah” was born in Lebanon and is half Lebanese and half American.  He first grew up in France and French is his first language but he later moved with his family to England and he speaks with an English accent.  His band consisted of a keyboard player/guitarist, a guitarist, a bassist who liked Asian with bleach blond hair, a short woman of African descent with big hair on drums and another woman on background vocals, selected duets, and dancing.  Other musicians and dancers came and left as needed.

Contrary to its title, "Relax (Take it Easy)" is a fast-paced dance number that put the audience in the right mood.  After they finished, Mika asked, "Are there any big girls in the house?" (Many cheers) "Are there any big boys in the house?" (Slightly fewer cheers).  They then went into the hyperkinetic "Big Girls are Beautiful".  The stage lit up and slowly behind it a 20-foot balloon of a big girl inflated.  Three "big girl" dancers came out and energetically danced with Mika, his backup singer and guitarist.  One dancer did cartwheels.

They slowed things down and the audience sat down for the next number.  The crew brought out a digital piano with a 3-candle candelabra and roses.  Mika sat down at it and sang the thoughtful "My Interpretation".

Then Mika told a little story.  "We were in Culver City two years ago trying to decide what songs to put on the album.  They told me this next song was " (at this point he switched to a humorous but convincing American accent) " not ready for the U.S. Market." (back to English) "I'm talking about my mate, Billy Brown."  He then starting singing "Billy Brown" and a trumpeter and trombonist came out to accompany for the jovial song.  Mika let the audience sing the part for which the U.S. market wasn't ready.

For the next song, introduced as "not one of my own" all the musicians stood along the front of the stage.  The keyboard player had a banjo, the drummer a washboard, and the bassist had what looked like a washtub bass without the washtub.  The song sounded like some kind of Middle America folk spiritual with lyrics sounding something like "I pray for Johnny while he prays for me."

Mika got back to the piano and the others were back in position to play the slower, soulful "Any Other World" and this time three string players joined them (two violinists (one might have been a violist) and a cellist).

The crew moved the piano out of the way and they did the much faster and danceable "Ring Ring" with rapid strobe lighting.  In my opinion the song is similar in tone and subject matter to "Wrong Number" by The Cure.

In the background of this and many prior songs there was a curtain with a painting of a large tree and various strange objects hanging from its branches such as a skull and something that looked like a toaster.  It was a dark, strangely macabre scene.  For the next song they lit up some garlands of light bulbs that dangled above and behind the stage.  Mika introduced it as "a new song" and it was happy song that Mika song mostly in falsetto with lines like, "How much do you miss me when I'm not here."

Mika got back to his piano and they did the deceptively slow starting but quickly becoming higher volume "Stuck in the Middle".  Towards the end, Mika did some back and forth with the audience, singing things such as "shoo-bee do wop bob ba" and then using gestures to give his opinion of how we did.

In the interlude after the song the crew placed what looked like a large box in the middle of the stage.  They uncovered it the reveal a large white block letter "M" about five feet high.  Behind it were steps to get on top and the background singer got up top wearing a tall feather headdress and a loose wrapping dress.  She sang melodically but (in my opinion) unintelligibly.  She then got provocative, removing the dress to reveal a tighter outfit.  Mika joined her up top wearing a pink and purple stripped jacket and they sang a cover of the Eurythmics' "Missionary Man".  Mika got on his knees when his co-singer sang, "Get down upon your knees, I got a message for you that you better believe."

Mika followed this raucous cover with the more subdued “Happy Ending” with him back at the piano.

They removed the "M" and the interlude music was slow and low like a dirge.  Mika had his white collar shirt back on and snow confetti fell slowing in the middle of the stage.  Mika took out and opened a white umbella and slowly twirled it in the "snowfall".   Out of stage left came a 10-foot walking puppet of what looked like a Dia de Los Muertos skeleton wearing a raggedy red dress and a tall hat. "She" walked to the stages edge and reached out to the audience.  Then she came over to Mika and put her hands over him.  He went into a sort of trance and dropped the umbrella.  Then he and the skeleton embraced.  She walked sideways off the stage waving to the crowd as she left.

Mika and band went straight into his Grammy nominated dance song "Love Today" and everyone stood up singing along even to the high falsetto.  The crowd danced and jumped and we could feel the whole mezzanine level shaking.  They added an extended ending where Mika introduced his band and acknowledged the strings and horns.  The crew brought this bush-shaped stand with big and small trash cans hanging on either side and a trash can lid in the middle.  Mika got some sticks and banged on the large trash can.  The keyboard player replaced the drummer and the drum came down and banged on the small can and the lid.  Mika stripped to the waist to wild cheers from the crowd and he and the drummer alternated and "competed" banging on the cans.  All the while, the rest of the band kept up the song's rhythm.

They got quiet finally.  Mika put back on a white shirt and black jacket and said, "I want to thank every single person in this room."  He described how playing live is how they really make their living and then said, "This one's called Grace Kelly."  The crowd remained standing and sang louder than any previous song.  The mezzanine shook some more.  When he sang, "Why don't you walk out that door" everyone pointed to the door.

Mika and the band left the stage.  The crowd cheered loudly even as Mika and the band returned to take a bow and leave again.  After several minutes of cheering, things got very strange.  A curtain came down with the shape of a white circus tent or something on it and this silly kids’ music started playing.  People (Mika and band) did some shadow play acting in animal costumes behind the curtain that got a bit racy.  I found this very strange and a bit out of character, more in character with The Flaming Lips.  This interlude causes me to bring the rating down to four stars.  If they had not done it or had not even come back for an encore, I would have given the concert five stars.

The curtain went up to reveal the band in animal costumes, though most of them had removed the animal heads.  They performed the silly, happy “Lollipop”.  A 20-foot balloon of a little girl with a lollipop inflated behind them and three dancers in little girl dresses came out, one of them with a very large lollipop.  All the musicians were out playing, the letter “M” returned, and soon the “big girl” dancers from the earlier number came out to join the party.  Mechanisms shot paper confetti and streamers into the crowd with the confetti reaching all the way up to the loge level.  After the number concluded Mika, the band, the extra musicians, and the dancers held hands along the front of the stage and took a bow.

The lights came back on the canned music played signaling that there would be no more encores.  We had minimal trouble leaving the Wiltern, getting back to the car and exiting the parking structure.  We didn’t get Stuck in the Middle and with this Happy Ending we could Relax (Take it Easy).

On Saturday, January 26, I watched the Europe Almost Unplugged Live Webcast that was broadcast live on their website www.europetheband.com at 9 pm Central Europe Time (CET) or 12 noon Pacific Time.  They played at a small venue called Nalen in Stockholm, Sweden.

I attempted to launch the webcast at 11:45 am and it said I had to install a plug-in.  I tried the plug-ins they featured and neither of them worked so I clicked on manual install that proceeded to install the Windows Media Player Firefox plug-in.  The webcast launched and showed a 6-inch square screen of the stage and the backs of some male concertgoers' heads.  I tried to expand it to full screen but I kept getting the message, "Video has to be playing to enter full screen mode."  I tried at other times during the webcast and kept getting the same message.

The venue had a pit area in front of the stage where people stood and there were these Doric-looking columns along the walls and the stage.  The stage was dark but I could see the outline of at least four chairs and a drum kit.  During the concert the lights shined different in the background behind the stage.  They ranged from dark blue turquoise to purple to red to orange to dark green to light green.  They changed the color after every song though some songs had the same color. 

The crowd looked like Europeans (no surprise) mostly in their 20’s and 30’s.  Some held up signs and flags

When the time was close to noon (i.e. 9 pm CET), the crowd started making noise such as singing "Whoa Whoa" and then the band came out to applause and sat down on the chairs.  The string quartet followed and sat on four more chairs behind the drum kit.  The lead singer, Joey Tempest, said, "Let's have some fun" and they went straight into a nearly acoustic version of "Got to Have Faith" (nearly acoustic since the keyboard player, Mic Micheali, played electronic keyboards throughout.)  The string quartet played some harmony and the guitarist, John Norum, sounded like he was playing blues from the 70's.  Even when almost unplugged, the song still rocked.

When they finished the first song Joey said, "It's a very special night, for us at least, because we have these nice ladies playing strings for us."  He described how they planned to play some weird and wonderful versions of Europe songs and some covers of songs and artists that influenced them most.  They then played an almost acoustic version of "Forever Travelling" a cut of their latest CD that is a tribute to Steve Perry formerly of Journey.

Before the next song, the bassist, John Leven and John N. switched to electric instruments.  John N. got a black and white y-shaped guitar.  Joey described how John N. came up with the guitar solo for next song while casually jamming in the recording studio.  He said, "Miracles do happen.  This one's for you, Jamie" (I have no idea who he was talking about) and they launched into "Devil Sings the Blues", also from their latest CD.  That song has grown on me since I saw this webcast of it.

John N. and John L. switched back to acoustic guitars for the next song and Joey said it was for "the people in front of the computers, wish you were here." and they covered Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".  When he sang, "We're just two lost souls living in a fish bowl year after year" it really seemed like that to me watching them on a 6-inch screen.  The stage lights shined a light green background.

The staged lights changed to purple for the next song "Dreamer" from their 1984 record "Wings of Tomorrow".  They didn't sing any verse acappella as they have been known to do but it was still soulful.

The next song was their second cover that Joey prefaced by saying how when the band Force (original named of Europe) started many years ago or "no, it wasn't really that long ago", John's mother's partner had a very large record collection and this was one they listened to many times.  The background changed the deep orange and they sang "Love to Love" by UFO, a song I had never heard before.  It didn't measure up to Europe's songs in my opinion but it had interesting switches between soulful singing and hard guitar riffs.

The guitarists switched back to electric instruments, the lights changed the dark blue, and Joey introduced the next song with a story: 

Once upon a time
in basement
on the edge of Stockholm
There was a little punk
who borrowed a keyboard from another punk
and came up with a riff
that changed everything.
And the rest, as they say
is a mystery. . .

They then went straight into the first verse of "The Final Countdown" without doing the signature keyboard riff.  The version sounded very different from the regular with the strings providing a multilayered harmony.  They made it through the first verse and then the screen froze, at the worst possible it could time during the concert.  But the time I got things back up and running they were finishing the last verse and the strings were playing the notes of the signature riff.  I wish I could have heard the whole song.  This occurrence prevents me from giving the concert five stars.

After singing what he has described as their "biggest hit so far."  Joey put down the acoustic rhythm guitar he had played during the first six songs and picked up some shakers.  He stood up and the lights changed to blue turquoise.  "We need your helping hands with this one," he said.  As the loud intro to the song began Joey quietly joked, "I liked to move-it move-it" and they played the rockin' cult favorite outtake "Yesterday's News".  Towards the end they stopped playing and let the crowd clap out the rhythm before providing an extended ending.

The lights changed back to dark purple and Joey got his guitar back and said, "The next song is difficult to explain.  It's meant a lot to us. We're gonna try to do it justice."  John N. had switched to a different electric guitar with a more traditional shape and they played the bluesy "Since I've been Loving You" by Led Zepplin.

They went back to acoustic for the next song and Joey asked the crowd, "Where do you travel from?"  After listening he said, "I heard Spain, Germany, Italy.  I think there're also some from Sweden here" and resulting in loud cheering.  He introduced the next song as from their 2004 CD "Start From the Dark" and described how "This evening is about miracles and heroes."  The keyboard played, Mic Michaeli, played the chorus melody of their song "Hero" and Joey started singing the first verse on an acoustic version of the song.  The version was good but didn’t quite have the anthemic power of their regular version.  I tend to prefer Europe's regular versions to their acoustic ones.  Joey still got very passionate while singing it, raising his fist and looking like he was tearing up.

It was back to electric guitars for the guitarists and Joey said, "This goes out to a man who is sitting just east of Heaven and west of Hell.  This one goes out to Phil!"  I assume he meant the late Phil Lynott from the group Thin Lizzy who was a major influence and the inspiration for the prior song, "Hero".  Europe performed what I assume was a cover of a Thin Lizzy song, though I hadn't heard it before.  I think it was called "Suicide" given the prominence of that word in the chorus.  They used a blinking light effect during this song.

The crew took away Joey's guitar and he and John L. "clinked" their water bottoms before taking a sip.  Joey said, "It's been a long time since we played this next song.  It was requested by a lot of fans on our website europetheband.com".  The lights changed to green and red and they sang a song from their very first record that I hadn't heard before.  The song was "Memories" and it had interesting lyrics such as, "There is not time to pay my sin, everyday is a fire wind."

After they finished this twelth song of the evening they left the stage with the drummer, Ian Haugland, handing his sticks to the crowd.  For several minutes the crowded cheered, stomped, and clapped very loudly.  The stage lights came back on and the band and string quartet returned.  Joey said, "Thank you very very much!" He thanked the "string girls from Stockholm Strings" and introduced each of them by name.  Then he said, "We're gonna need your help on this one" and they played "Superstitious" with prominent harmonizing from the string quartet.  Since I didn't hear all of "The Final Countdown", I felt this song was their best performance of the concert.  It took me back to when I listen to this song in middle school so many years ago, or no, it wasn't really that long ago.  Joey did some back and forth with the crowd singing "Whoa Whoa"

They finished "Superstitous" and the string quartet left.  The band got up and talked amongst themselves for a few minutes and the crowd went crazy.  They went back to their places, though Joey jokelying went to the drum kit before being redirected by Ian.  Joey said, "We don't really plan anything else.  Any requests?"  After some unintelligible (to me) shouting from the audience Joey said, "This song was mentioned."  They played “Rock the Night” with Joey standing and playing shakers.  The crowd got really into it, raising their fists and they had an extended ending with Joey doing more back and forth with the crowd:

Joey: “Sing Rock now rock the night”

Crowd: “Rock now rock the night”

Joey: “Sing rock rock rock rock rock the night.”

Crowd: “Rock rock rock rock rock the night.”

The song ended to thunderous applause, screaming, and stomping.  The band got up for the final time. Joey said, “We’ll see you again soon” and they walked off the stage.  The screen faded to back.

Maybe next time I’ll actually get to see them live.