I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get out for concerts, much less other forms of entertainment, that much. I guess the kids keep us a bit busy. It’s probably been 2 years since I had seen a concert at all. But twice in one week, I actually got a chance to go out and watch three of my favorite bands.
The first concert was for a band most of you have probably never heard of — Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. And that’s a shame, because they are really good. You might actually have heard of Roger Clyne from his previous band (the Refreshments)), who had a couple of hits in the 1990s. And he also wrote and performed the theme song for the Fox cartoon King of the Hill. This is good guitar-driven rock. With the added bonus that Roger (IMO) is a great songwriter.
So it was a pleasant surprise to find out that he would be headlining at the Canal Club here in Richmond on a Sunday night. I got the pass from Kellie to go out and see them, and they were really good. 90 minutes of rock-and-roll, hitting their past and present, taking requests (including for one song they hadn’t played on tour yet and had only played once live before) while “breaking in” a new guitarist (as of February). I never would have guessed the guitarist was relatively new, and he pretty much had the whole catalog down.
I’d definitely see them live again. The only disappointing thing was that they didn’t come out for an encore, but they definitely performed a rocking show. Definite thumbs up, particularly if you like guitar-driven rock-and-roll. (And the acoustics in the Canal Club were perfect. It made for an enjoyable experience.) If you want to start with one of their albums, check out Americano.
Wednesday night gave me another chance to catch 2 more bands from my youth (although one had actually formed before I was born). Asia and Yes were touring together and performed in the outdoor pavilion here in Richmond. Asia had all 4 key members, and they performed both songs from Asia as well as songs from their own bands before they formed Asia. I showed up late, so only caught about two-thirds of their show. But they definitely sounded good.
Yes was the headliner, and it was clear that most of the crowd (not quite sold out, but very little room left in the grass for people to set up) was there for them. As might be expected, given their progressive rock tradition, but they only played about 12 songs in 90 minutes. Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White returned, and they had a new keyboardist and vocalist. (I was wrong when telling people earlier that Jon Anderson was with them. He was not, but the vocalist sure sounded like him. I couldn’t see very well at the back of the audience.)
The most disturbing thing of the evening? Having a 50+ year old women dancing spastically (think awkward high school boy, flicking head, hips, and arms about) during the guitar solo in Owner of a Lonely Heart and later during Roundabout. Not the parts of those songs I would expect someone to dance to.
Great stuff all around. And kind of interesting to think that I hadn’t seen any concerts in so long. (I think the last one may have been, believe it or not, Weird Al Yankovic. That was a fun one, too.) Will I see another one this year? I don’t know. Kellie has her own concert experience coming up this weekend. Yes, if you know her, you could guess who — Sir Paul McCartney.
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