Thighs Wide Shut

David Gilmour
Madison Square Garden
April 11th

I love me some Floyd man, but I never saw them in concert as ‘Pink Floyd’… and I never will (doesn’t help that most of the band are dead and the ones that are alive basically hate each other).  I was always on team Roger Waters, and was blessed to have seen him 4 times in the past decade – twice for his Dark Side of The Moon tour and twice for his The Wall rebuilding.  Somehow I didn’t give David Gilmour the Gilmour guy love that I should have given him – I mean, this is THE fcuking guitarist for Pink Floyd!!!

The last time Gilmy was in the states was briefly in 2006, and before that even more breiflyerer in 1988, so I didn’t have many chances to jump at something I wasn’t exactly jumping for.  But ever since I saw Waters, I was like man, I really should see Gilmour, before he or I die, and boom – Gilmour came to the states to support a (decent) new album, stopping by 4 cities only in North America, and boom – here we are

And so?  Dude, David Gilmour is THE fcuking guitarist for Pink Floyd – perhaps the most guitaristishy band the world has ever known.  And dude, David Gilmour can SHRED that fcuking guitar, man – creating soundscapes that CANNOT be escaped from.  I mean, dude, why weren’t you there?  I WISH YOU WERE THERE!!!! with me!!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEFJrhXm3wt/

Gilmy played new songs, he played Floyd songs, he played BS Floyd songs from the time where Pink Floyd was basically juss him, but whatever he played, it blew my ears, and my penis, and my mind, and your mind, even though you weren’t there.  Man, I truly wish you were there

If you weren’t there, I bet you wish you were there, and I wish I could say that there’ll be many more times he’ll come back and be here, but I think that’s juss well wishing, for wishes that may never come true again.  Oh well

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Set 1 - 5 A.M. / Rattle That Lock / Faces of Stone / Wish You Were Here / What Do You Want From Me / A Boat Lies Waiting / The Blue / Money / Us and Them / In Any Tongue / High Hopes

Set 2 - Astronomy Domine / Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) / Fat Old Sun / Coming Back to Life / The Girl in the Yellow Dress / Today / Sorrow / Run Like Hell

Encore - Time / Breathe (Reprise) / Comfortably Numb

Blur
Madison Square Garden
October 23rd

The above pic is all you need to know about how much Blur enjoyed playing Madison Square Garden for the first time ever!!!

The pic below is all you need to know about how me and the crew enjoyed RAWKING out to Blur playing Madison Square Garden for the first time ever*!!!!!

*although Damon played MSG before with Gorillaz

https://instagram.com/p/9NE7pehWAb/

Setlist – Go Out / There’s No Other Way / Lonesome Street / Badhead / End of a Century / Ghost Ship / Coffee & TV / Out of Time / Country Sad Ballad Man / Beetlebum / Thought I Was a Spaceman / Trimm Trabb / Tender / Parklife / Song 2 / To the End / This Is a Low

Encore – Stereotypes / Girls & Boys / For Tomorrow / The Universal

https://instagram.com/p/9OzIlsG300/

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so where does the show rank?  probably the 2nd best Blur show I’ve seen, right behind the 2009 Hyde Park gig, and ahead of the Bowery show, which was really a 1/2 a Blur show (no Rowntree, and Graham wasn’t in the band)  

What about Damon shows?  Too hard to compare, juss ultra blessed he makes many kinds of musics and tours these musics in whatever form they is in

perv-iously on Damon shows…

Grahamer Rodeo – Damon @ Irving

Where’s North From Here? - Gorillaz @ MSG

Hyde & Seek – Blur @ Hyde Park

Thighs By Thighswest Day 2- The Good, The Bad & The Queen @ Webster Hall

Shaun Ryder Cup My Balls of Noodles – Gorillaz @ The Apollo Part 2

Things To Dee And So* – Gorillaz @ The Apollo Part 1

U2
Madison Square Garden
July 19th

It was my 8th time seeing U2 (and 3rd time at MSG), and apparently the first time I had ever heard ‘October’ or ‘Gloria’ live!!!!!!!!!!  How do I know this, well you see, a week ago, I decided to create a profile on the incredible site – setlist.fm – to keep track of what concerts I’ve been to, and also to add shows I’ve been to that aint listed on the site (you should do the same and help make a better tomorrow!!!).  Well, they have a handy little statistics thing and you can see what songs a band has played at the shows you’ve attended.  Here are my U2 stats.  I haven’t heard a single song played at all 8 shows, but have heard ‘Beautiful Day’, ‘Mysterious Ways’  and ‘Vertigo’ at 7 of them!  Sadly, I’ve only heard my favorite, ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’ at 3 of the shows.  What’s the point?  U2 are awesome, and have way TOO many songs to play, and sadly they don’t have time to play them all, so I have to keep going back, and improve my stats!

Btw – that new album that was thrown onto everyone’s tHighphones and caused mass hysteria and hate-aria – Songs of Innocence – is pretty fcuking awesome.  Of course it is – it’s a U2 album, and any U2 album sounds like U2, and thus instantly becomes a part of their prolific awesome back catalog.  ‘Vertigo’ is from an album that’s 11 years old, and yet it seems as vital and important as anything from their 80s or 90s output.  I already feel that ‘The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)’ is a song that I want to hear them play at every show I see of theirs going forward.  That’s no miracle – it’s U2, and it’s me 3!

Btw 2 – nice frosted hair Bono.  You look like Philip as Clark on The Americans

Setlist

Set 1 - The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) / Gloria / Vertigo / I Will Follow / Iris (Hold Me Close) / Cedarwood Road / Song for Someone / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Raised by Wolves / Until the End of the World / The Fly / Invisible / Even Better Than the Real Thing / Mysterious Ways / Volcano / Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out of / October / Every Breaking Wave / With or Without You / City of Blinding Lights / Bullet the Blue Sky / Pride (In the Name of Love) 

Encore – Beautiful Day / Bad / Where the Streets Have No Name / I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

Rush
Madison Square Garden
June 29th

photo by Randy Johnson

Rush has been around for 40 years, and apparently their R40 tour may be their last tour.  Who are they kidding??  This Canadian trio - Geddy Lee / Alex Lifeson / Neil Peart – are in their early 60s, and yet they are kicking it as if they were in their 20s.  There might not be a tighter trio going on earth, well, besides me, my mouth and Popeyes Fried Chicken

Seeing them, FINALLY, was part obligation (I’ve been in love ever since I got my hands on the double CD set Chronicles via BMG Music Service), and partly cause I like me some kick ass rock, and the fellas did not disappoint – playing a career spanning show, in reverse chronological order.  Even the stage decorations got less and less extravagant as the night wore on – going from glitz (a popcorn maker and some washing machines!?) to back to basics (just a few amps) by the time the show ended, some 3 hours later(!!!)!

And what did I take away from this show? The sight of double guitars!! and double bass guitars!!  And Neil Peart’s dumb skully,  and how Alex Lifeson looks exactly like David Warner (sorta not really!).  And things, and stuff!!

Setlist

Set 1 - The Anarchist / Headlong Flight / Far Cry / The Main Monkey Business / One Little Victory / Animate / Roll the Bones / Distant Early Warning  /Losing It (with Jonathan Dinklage) / Subdivisions(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 

Set 2 - Tom Sawyer / Red Barchetta / The Spirit of Radio / Jacob’s Ladder  / Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: Prelude / Cygnus X-1 / Closer to the Heart / Xanadu  / 2112 Part I: Overture / 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx / 2112 Part IV: Presentation / 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

Encore – Lakeside Park / Anthem / What You’re Doing / Working Man 

Billy Joel
Madison Square Garden
February 18th

This was only the 2nd time I’ve seen BJ.  The first was on his River of Dreams tour at the Capital Centre in 1993 (one of these two shows)

He played ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ then

He didn’t last night

I’d consider that single omission a waste of an entire evening

JFGAY BLOWN AWAY WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO SAY?????

BUT it wasn’t, cause even if Billy Joel looks like an old mole, he’s still got it!!  And you can tell he’s really enjoying his monthly MSG residency.  He even is semi-sorta letting his fans dictate some his set – asking them to choose between two songs to play, by cheering their choice!  

AND he loves ‘Tush’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WHO DOESN’T???????????????

Setlist

Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) / Pressure / Say Goodbye to Hollywood / The Stranger / Vienna / Summer, Highland Falls / The Entertainer / The Downeaster Alexa / Zanzibar / Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) / New York State Of Mind / Allentown / I’ve Been Working On The Railroad (Instrumental) / My Life / Sometimes a Fantasy / She’s Always a Woman / Don’t Ask Me Why / The River of Dreams (with ZZ Top ‘Tush’ interlude) / Scenes From an Italian Restaurant / Piano Man

Encore – Uptown Girl / It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me / You May Be Right / Only The Good Die Young