Concert Reviews, Photos, Videos and Rock and Roll Stories from fans who love live music

Come on….“Them Crooked Vultures” …even with the name they are off to a good start . The short videos on YouTube had me interested and well being a concertaholic I knew reputation was enough for me to get a ticket and experience these guys live. I’ve listened to more Zeppelin than Foo’s or Queens of The Stone Age… so I will not be detailing the guys careers here or have a big say in who they sound like most. Just the show as I saw it.

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…..I take my hobby serious and jumped into the rainy line-up around 4pm. Only 20 people in line so far…so the front row was going to happen for me and it did. After a few hours of swapping concert stories with various music lovers including two fathers with their teenage kids… we headed in and I locked myself onto the rail directly in front of where one of the world’s most talented bassist’s would stand for 90 minutes.

With no CD out yet and very little information about the band… the rumours were no opening band and no encore. Fine I’ll take what I can get. Only moments away we are about to witness…Josh Homme on guitar and lead vocals, Dave Grohl on drums and John Paul Jones teaching bass. Plus, there was a fourth Crooked Vulture Alain Johannes on rhythm guitar.

The house music stops, the vultures walk out…say hello and explode into “Elephants”. The groove was on, the roll was heavy and goosbumps happened at 30 seconds into a song I’ve only heard twice on YouTube. Grohl gang banged his drum kit and I learned quickly that Homme knew what to do with a guitar… and John Paul Jones…. well it hadn’t really hit me that it was him 12 feet in front of me.

After the first song the crowd erupted and moved in closer as Josh started to introduce his Crooked band mates. He saved Jones for last and rather than say his name, he simply pointed over to him….and the entire crowd started chanting “JOHN PAUL JONES, JOHN PAUL JONES, JOHN PAUL JONES”  a slight smile from the man himself and that was just one of those moments you talk about for the next 10 years a parties!

The following 80+ minutes was a thunderous music demonstration from multiple genres along with creating one in the middle of it all. The direction changed too many times to remember with layer upon layer it seemed like a tennis match at times… for myself trying to decide who to zero in on as the boomerang of rock, blues and psychedelica bounced around in between flashes of light. For chemistry I noticed Josh really connecting with JPJ a few times…along with numerous vocal fills from each of the guys including John Paul Jones.

Here is Scumbag Blues to give you a feel…

As far as musicians from different bands hooking up… I saw Chickenfoot and for the money in a small venue it was fun although the music didn’t make much sense to me. This evening’s performance and this band made sensek. There is thought behind all Them Crooked Vultures… from the Bonham pounding Grohl to John Paul Jones playing that piano outro on Daffodils…straight on over to Homme who stood tall, proud and confident of what he and bandmate Alain Johannes were delivering.

In short…Elephants as a first song took me to a place many encores never have and the pace throughout was amazing right up to the last couple of  songs…… here is “Nobody Love Me” just deadly…..

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….and then… the closing tune  “Warsaw” . This was so killer  I couldn’t lift my arm to video and the insane jam for the final few minutes..was paralyzing….. they drew us in… playing harder and harder and then it ENDED. Done Right there. No Encore.

I got it…they had me… I wanted more. 90 minutes of songs I’ve never heard and I wanted another “set”

If you are following this band, were at this show or any shows this tour please leave us a comment or quick review of what you are digging about Them Crooked Vultures.

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It could have been 1 of several things that brought Eddie Vedder out to centre stage well before the opening band was scheduled to start tonight’s Pearl Jam show at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. The first being that as Eddie Vedder said Ted Leo of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists was not available as of yet and “we would have to improvise”. The second is that EV is a good guy and would love to fill the seats with people to watch Ted Leo before PJ fills them, or lastly he just freakin loves Toronto and the Legacy of Neil Young!  Who cares it’s all probably true but loving Neil Young, as Eddie obviously does has him out early and meandering through Neil’s Sugar Mountain & The Needle and the Damage done.  Just crazy awesome!! I was up walking around between the 300’s and the 400’s which at this point were basically empty I just plunked down and caught Sugar Mountain on video and was blown away by EV doing these Neil Young gems. The goose bumps were already happening!!

There isn’t gong to be enough words to describe the show. Pearl Jam were simply spectacular!! I have been going to shows for 35+ years now and I got to tell this show has to be in my top 10! Believe it or not probably I’ve done 500+ shows and this was my first live experience with Pearl Jam .  Although I did manage to catch the Eddie Vedder solo outing last year at Massey Hall. (bonus gem here)  Not sure why I never caught the full band… I have everything they put out, plus a bunch of boots and I’m seriously liking the new tune The Fixer with the Ska feel. Eddie Vedder even sounds happy on the tune.

Right out of the box -- Of The Girl a nice rockin noddler to get us feeling good and ready for what was in store…then Corduroy nice!! Were just getting started…. I’m in the 100’s now 5 rows back just to McCready’s side. The crowd is ballistic!! I heard the venue was over sold  by 4000. I got to tell you Pearl Jam has to be the toughest tickets to get. I heard a scalper sell two $40 lawns for $500. Nuts!  I mean I didn’t’ see a decent 200 level, never mind a 100 anywhere. I entered with a 400 level and ended in the second row by the encore.  Severed Hand and were in the stratus sphere some where …Yield and Pearl Jam got a lot of air time.

The new tune The Fixer sounds nice live. EVEN FLOW… comes in there like a freight train of rock ….it is like a blur in here now…Given to Fly…. I think Eddie Vedder mentioned they don’t get this out there much live or it could have been Faithful…. Around Unemployable EV gave a little story about “how amusing it must be to watch the country down under us” he used the current health debate going on in the USA to suggest it must be like watching a “dog chase its own tail” then he changed the story a little and mentioned it maybe kind of like have a distinguished guest over to your house for dinner like Neil Young then referring to him as Uncle Neil -- like having “Uncle Neil over for dinner and the dog like starts to lick its own asshole”!

½ Full comes across heavy, way heavier then the album version could ever do!!  This could of went on forever I was gone!!  Mike is on fire!! The whole band is crazy!! The run of inside Job (with the keyboards turned up nicely) and Mike screaming some nice stuff.. and then Wishlist just to cool down before the rockoutfest of Black and Alive back to back was unreal. The Black fading guitar outro was another awesome standout!!

At one juncture during the rock out in Alive the band comes together in front of the drum kit -- Mike playing the big double necked Gibson -- they are this finely tuned rock machine churning, humming, powerful -- Eddie Vedder rams his head for a moment into Mike McCready’s chest ! Wild to watch!! McCready throws out a handful of guitar picks and I manage to snag one!!  MC changes his shirt a couple of time and at one point he comes out wearing a Kiss Alive tee shirt -- classic stuff!!

The band cools it out again with Wasted (reprise)… I think it was during this tune or at the conclusion EV come and points to -- then leans over and hands the guy directly in front of me and one seat to the right a tambourine !! The vibe all around was beautiful!

………………………..The weather was working the music so amazing!! The crowd literally going insane here… the sing along with Betterman (video) was huge!! Eddie Vedder let it go for awhile then comes to the mike and says” that was pretty f**kin’ good”!! I kind of remember Porch but don’t ….I mean I was in this surreal place where this band had taken me.

They were playing so tight and the magic was really flowing. I didn’t want the show to end and end it had to and fittingly so with the encore being Neil Young’s Rockin’ in The Free World!! What a blast!! If there was a second it would be a no brainer to head on down!! This is definitely 2 hours I’d love to relive over and over again!!

Set List for the evening in Toronto with Pearl Jam…..

Front Side of Mike McCready’s Guitar Pic

BETTERMAN from Toronto

More Pearl Jam Videos from Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre

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Monday Morning you look so fine, Friday I got travelin on my mind -- I was 6 or 7 and remember the sound of Fleetwood Mac’s White Album on Vinyl. My mom’s speakers were as tall as me and the bass… Lindsey’s voice become a staple for years along with Stevie Nicks and of course Christine Mcvie.

March17, 2009 and Fleetwood Mac arrives in Toronto for the first of two shows this month. Yes that’s my ticket above that I picked up a few hours before the show. 3rd row! That’s what made up my mind for me. Down to the Air Canada Centre and I walk over to will-call, see a friend right away and then head on in through the front doors. Here is the sign on the doors walking in. I took this with my blackberry. Ok well the sign didn’t work to well because down front was a total photo shoot. Security sat down. There were no barriers between row 1 and the stage. Fans were leaning on the stage with their digi-cams.

Monday Morning launched the show off followed by The Chain and Dreams. Lindsey showed his strong presence early here in the show… his unique vocals and of course his guitar mastery. I wasn’t expecting to hear “Gypsy” and it was real cool to experience as it totally brought me back to the early 80’s.  Think about how many times you heard that tune on the radio back then? She is dancing…away from you now…

Dancing, singing and the hits.. was the mood down front in the first 3-5 rows. That was the purpose here as Lindsey announced “we have no new album “yet” and we just want to have some fun playing the songs we like”.  With the repertoire this band has things didn’t really get slow with the middle of the set being Rhiannon, Second Hand News, Tusk and then the beautiful Sara. It’s easy to get lost inside of a song like Sara… and then get woken up with the climatic finger-picking journey of Big Love… big big love.

Landslide is always good, maybe not as in depth as the version on the “DANCE DVD” but this stripped down part of the evening showcased a well crafted version of Never Going Back Again… that seemed to defy time.  Lindsey slowed it right down as many tried to sing along… it seemed to get slower… Stevie Nicks twirled around and sauntered over towards Lindsey for a “moment” and by the time I realized I should be video taping this one… it ended. Storms featured some video imaging on the screens above the bands heads and diehards along with Stevie herself seemed to like this one.

Say You Love Me… just drives home the fact that Christine Mcvie is not part of Fleetwood Mac anymore. Not just her vocals are missed but her left stage presence. One of the best songs I’ve ever seen presented was  in the late 80’s at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto. Final encore… Christine on the grand piano, Mick Fleetwood comes out and lays a dozen red roses across the top of the piano and I swear I saw a Dove flying around while Christine sang SONGBIRD.

Back to 2009 here and by the time So Afraid hit everyone… the guitar solo here defied what many casual fans forgot or just plain don’t know. Lindsey Buckingham can play the music-box ! Then hearing Stevie do her solo Stand Back I thought maybe we would get Edge of Seventeen. No luck there.

The main set finished off with a strong Go Your Own Way.Top Hat on Stevie and more guitar fun from Buckingham with him letting some front row fans pluck away on the strings for a few seconds during his solo.

World Turning was song 21 and the 1st of a 3 song encore. It offered up bug-eyed Mick Fleetwood doing his thing on drums along with some Mick-chanting and what seemed to be recorded-feedback vocals of Lindsey being played by the keyboardist I believe. I didn’t see Mick’s little drummer-helper during this song although he did have someone playing behind the stack of monitors to his left. Apparently Mick isn’t as strong as he used to be on the skins.

Drum Solo

Don’t Stop & Silver Springs are the final songs…and it seems everyone is happy. No one song here took me into the clouds or anything. Fleetwood Mac just reminds me of my mom, a time period that was fun and is almost like having some “comfort food.”  The chance to sit 3rd row centre is something a real concert goer doesn’t turn down…..you get the ticket and run to your seat. (even though it was 2 rows behind where I sat 5 years ago when I saw the Mac.)

Security told me there were 5 fights on the night …all woman. Thanks to the Original Kid Rock for stopping by behind 3rd row to show off that he had the actual setlist and it was only half way through the show.

If you were at the show please leave us a comment or if you are going to the next one then drop us a link to your photos or videos. I twittered & updated my facebook during the show for the first time also offering up some live photos as they happened. Next up… live streaming video.

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