Thighs Wide Shut

Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits
City Winery
June 28

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SEVENTY-EIGHT MINUTES OF SIXTIES FUN, FUNNY AND FURY!!!!!!!!!

Setlist – I’m Into Something Good / Wonderful World (Sam Cooke cover) / Love Potion No. 9 (The Clovers cover) / Ring of Fire (Merle Kilgore cover) / Dandy (The Kinks cover) / A Must to Avoid / Daydream Believer (John Stewart cover) / Sea Cruise (Huey “Piano” Smith cover) / All My Loving (The Beatles cover) / Just a Little Bit Better / Silhouettes (The Rays cover) / Listen People / Travellin’ Light (Cliff Richard & The Shadows cover) / No Milk Today / The End of the World (Skeeter Davis cover) / I’m Telling You Now (Freddie & The Dreamers cover) / Ferry Cross the Mersey (Gerry & The Pacemakers cover) / Do Wah Diddy Diddy (The Exciters cover) / Jumpin’ Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones cover) / Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat / Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter / I’m Henry the Eighth I Am / There’s a Kind of Hush (New Vaudeville Band cover)

Christopher Cross
City Winery
March 2

I never got to see Kris Kross, but I can tell my great-great-great-grandkids (via hologram) that I saw Christopher Cross played live.  You know, the dude who cleaned up at the 1981 Grammys, and nabbed an Oscar the next year, and then disappeared off everyone’s radar, like Gary Burghoff did after he played Radar.  Not even ‘N Sync could raise the dead!  BUT HE (still) LIVES!!!  And with that smooth voice, and smooth sailing repertoire of songs, CC totally made for an easy-breezy lovely evening.  I got caught between his beautiful moon-face and New York City, and even bester than I could do, I fell in love.  It’s true!  And I rode like the wind!!!

Christopher Cross was never a cross to off on my list of ‘see them before they die or I die‘rs, but what I’ve learned in 4 short days, after seeing both he and Mellencamp, is that EVERYONE should be on that list.  Why limit yoself the incredible experience of seeing any artist play live?  Time and money baby, and so for now, I limit my time and money to the older acts (while still moving to the groove of the more modern acts that I like to shake my hips to), but will keep an open mind and set of ears going forward

Setlist – All Right / Never Be the Same / Sailing / Walking in Avalon / Reverend Blowhard / I Really Don’t Know Anymore / Roberta / Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) / The Light Is On / Dreamers / V / Minstrel Gigolo / Say You’ll Be Mine / Light the World / No Time For Talk / Ride Like the Wind

Encore – Imagine (John Lennon cover)

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Raul Malo
City Winery
January 29th

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In my family, I’m the vulture of culture, and usually dictate which movies and concerts we go to.  My wife excels at other things – like being beautiful and being an amazing cook, and even being funnier than I.  So it came with great shock and awe shucks that she turned me onto an incredible singer/songwriter that I never had the pleasure of hearing of, and hearing in general.  Ears, meet Raul Malo – a Cuban-American whose influences are wide-ranged, and whose voice is so grand and marvelous that it sends chills down my ears, to my spine and into my heart, where it hugs and tugs, and warms it song after song

We caught Mr Malo at the intimate City Winery, where all he brought was an acoustic guitar and that singular soul-shaking voice.  My oh myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!  It didn’t matter what he was singing, from his own solo catalog, to tunes from his band the Mavericks – it all ROCKED.  But where things really really REALLLY ROCKED were the covers her covered – doing justice and then some to the likes of Willie Nelson, Sinatra, Harry Nilsson, Roy Orbison and The Hollies.  I want to hear him cover every song ever!!!  EVER!!!!!!!  

Sign me up for mas Malo, por favor!

Fran Healy
City Winery
Rocktober 7th

We wined, he shined.  He being Fran Healy of Travis fame, and of being the newly (hopefully only temporary) solo artist behind a mos eggsalad album, which was released this past week.  He played the songs from said album (they sounded juss as good! even if Neko Case was a no show for their duet), tossed in some Travis classics (‘Love Will Come Through’, ‘My Eyes’), and even took requests from the sometimes rowdy, sometimes subdued crowd (we were too far in the back to scream for the ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ cover).  We’ve now seen him and the boys, him and juss Andy, and now juss him alone, and honestly, one doesn’t rule over the other, cause they all rule!  Hell, we’d see him play underwater, in sign language, on Uranus!

Fran will be supporting Brandon Flowers on some solo dates next month!

bonus: peep this hot youtube clip he shared with everyone!