Eagles:
We saw the Eagles at Madison Square Garden after Glenn Fry died. They were a truly amazing band playing music that was totally in sync together. Great hits throughout the whole night. Don Henley said they would not “chit chat” during the concert as they wanted to play all their hit songs in the time they were allotted though Joe Walsh did step up and interact with the audience. As you could tell from my previous reviews I liked it when the bands interacted or chit chat as he had said. Funny thing that I remember was when Joe Walsh donned a parrot head hat as an honor to Jimmy Buffett who had recently died. We were not told why he did it at that time and only found out later as we thought it was just Wash being Walsh. Great dueling guitars by Stuart Smith and Joe Walsh playing Hotel California. Hotel California is one of the best rock songs ever. Though I do miss Don Feldor on Guitar from their previous group. These guys were great. Great show.
Steely Dan:
We saw Steely Dan and Don Fagen as a pre band before the Eagles at Madison Square Garden and forgot how good of a brass jazz type band they actually were. Very underrated. Reelin’ In The Years and My Old School were fantastic songs that I hadn’t heard on the radio in years. I could not get some of their music out of my head for a week as those two songs kept going on inside my mind. This band was a pleasant surprise. We really enjoyed them.
Jeff Lynne’s ELO:
We saw this new version of Leff Lynne’s band first at the Prudential Center and boy were they great. Very much polished and improved from their original version with multiple string musicians. Great harmony and the original hits were played even better. Nice light show as well topped this off. Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria, Mr. Blue Sky, Livin’ Thing, All Over the World, Telephone Line and tons of others demonstrated the greatness of this band. Next, we saw them a few years later on their final tour at Madison Square Garden and once again this band shined the same. Jeff Lynne is a true musical genius in my mind. They definitely went out on a high note. One of my favorites for sure.
Dhani Harrison:
He played before Jeff Lynne’s ELO at the Prudential Center and was this a letdown. We could not wait until they ended. Indian rock music is not my preferred genre of music. Nothing like his Dad, other than his good looks. Evidently Jeff Lynne is his Godfather and probably the reason why he played before them. Of all of the bands that I have every listened to this is the one that I could not wait until they ended.
Lynard Skynyrd:
Now this is the band for hard guitar playing southern rock classics. Saw them first at the PNC Bank Arts Center and then later down in Atlantic City at the Ocean Casino Resort. Super great hits like Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, Sweet Home Alabama and of course Free Bird and others were fantastic. Ricky Medlocke in his 70s plays like he did as a young adult and Johnny Van Zant, following in his brother’s footsteps is a great front man for the band and exudes American patriotism. I loved the energy that this band brings to the table and the audience always seems to respond. If you love great guitar songs and riffs then this is the band to see. Free Bird is perhaps one of the all-time greatest songs ever written.
ZZ Top:
Hard driving guitar playing rock band we saw at the PNC Arts Center played their great hits like Sharp Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Legs. Blues Southern Rock is perhaps how I would describe them. Nice surprise that they were part of the tour with Skynyrd. They actually played after Skynyrd the night we saw them. One lead guitar, one bass guitar and one drummer. So simple, yet so effective and great.
Cracker:
I truly had no idea who they were before we saw them as the first band to play at the PNC the night before Skynyrd and ZZ Top. Seemed like they played a sort of country rock and though I do not remember any of their songs I believe they were actually pretty decent.
