A Crazy Good Year In Music (2018)

2/2/18 – Pink @ The Armory – Minneapolis, MN

 2/22/18 – Robert Plant @ State Theatre – Minneapolis, MN

 9/22/18 – Paul Simon @ Flushing Meadows – Queens, NY

 10/18/18 – Foo Fighters @ Xcel Center – St. Paul, MN

Okay.  It is that time of year again to look back on the previous year’s live music calendar.  It was another banner year with a lot of great shows, some incredible shows, some sad in their finality, and one freaky clunker.  The first three months included three of my favorite female artists with sultry Lana Del Rey, kickass Pink and luscious Lorde.  The first Pink show at the general admission Armory was especially kickass in that I got there early enough to get a front row spot, and Pink jumped off the stage practically into my arms 5 minutes into the show…holy crap.

 

Legendary Robert Plant was…Robert Plant…and notable in that he still sounds amazing and his band is packed with some of the world’s best musicians.  Back at the Armory a month later for Judas Priest with friends Mitch, Thor and Fast Eddie was a heavy metal blast from the past as the bill also included an 80’s favorite of mine Saxon.  A month later I was in New Orleans for Jazz Fest, seeing my all-time favorite band and friends the Radiators…not to mention a bunch of great acts at the Fairgrounds with my buddy Dave S. Thompson who had a pair of Grand Marshall passes for us.

 

June found me back at my old high school stomping grounds, Alpine Valley, for another round of Dead & Company.  They were fantastic but I only went to one night, which many considered the best show of the tour and I had a blast channeling that old-school Alpine feeling that we had in the 80’s.  Luckily I missed the next night which many considered the worst show of the tour.  So it goes with the Dead.

 

Cool old Ray Wylie Hubbard from Texas was a real treat at the Dakota, and it was fun talking to him about one of his and my heroes, Tony Glover.  Speaking of, I saw Tony a few days later at Crooners Lounge, which I fear may be the last time I  ever get to see him perform live.  Along that same vein, I was also fortunate enough to see beloved Bob Seger on his final tour, as well as Paul Simon at his final show EVER in Queens where he grew up…both shows were very bittersweet.

 

Los Lobos were their usual cool selves down in Mankato at the outdoor Vetter Amphitheater.  I went with Fast Eddie and I managed to talk our way deeper and deeper into the backstage realm until I ended up parking my car next to the band’s equipment truck.  Before long we were dining on delicious catered backstage cuisine while waiting for the band to show up.  They rocked Mankato and afterwards every single member signed a half-dozen old posters from the 80’s that I brought from my collection.

 

A concert and artist that took me by surprise was Taylor Swift…laugh if you want, but her sold out stadium show (one of two nights in Minneapolis) was f*cking awesome.  I did not know much about her, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about was so I found a fairly cheap ticket and ended up sneaking into some of the best seats in the stadium.  Her show was spectacularly visual, huge and fun…and despite me being the only straight male there without a wife/girlfriend/daughter, I had a blast.  My 9-year old daughter is still mad that I didn’t take her, but I will next time.

 

A couple days later I caught timeless primal metal favorites Metallica at the new and improved Target Center.  I can’t say Metallica was new or improved, but they still kicked my ass as they have been for decades.  I figured it would be funny to wear a Taylor Swift tee-shirt to the concert, but then thought better of it and went safe with a black Metallica shirt.

 

Another one of my favorite shows of the year was the Foo Fighters at the Xcel.  Dave Grohl is just so damn cool…he reminds me of my favorite ‘Dave’ (Malone) in his fun-loving coolness and talent.  I scored a seat next to the stage and even got a couple of guitar pics from him.  Long great show that had us all jumping and screaming, and it was the last show of the tour so all protocol was out the window as Dave and the band seemed to be having even more fun than we were.

 

Speaking of Dave Malone, he was in town a week later for the Krewe of DAD’s 33^rd annual Halloween bash with Raw Oyster Cult performing two nights.  This was an incredible weekend of music and mayhem, with members of the band arriving a day early and sitting in with the New Orleans Suspects at the Dakota, and then again across town with the Butanes at Shaws…it felt like we were back at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans.

 

The only performer I regret paying money to go see was Phil Collins at the Target Center.  My god…the poor guy looks like he’s 110 years old.  He actually sounded fairly good, but he could barely walk and looked like a withered old shell of himself.  He had to be helped on to the stage and sat in a chair the whole time.  We left after 45 minutes as I wanted to try and remember him in my mind as the man that was flashing up on the stage-screen for the hour before the show, instead of what was left of him.

 

Anyways, here is what I managed to see last year:

 

1/5/18 – Lana Del Rey @ Target Center – Minneapolis, MN

2/2/18 – Pink @ The Armory – Minneapolis, MN
2/10/18 – The Butanes w/Camile Baudoin @ Hook & Ladder Theater – Mpls, MN
2/14/18 – Jorma Kaukonen @ Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN
2/22/18 – Robert Plant @ State Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
3/3/18 – Jefferson Starship/Mark Farner @ Medina Ballroom – Medina, MN
3/9/18 – Slaughter/Lynch Mob @ Medina Ballroom
3/12/18 – Pink @ Xcel Center – St. Paul, MN
3/22/18 – The New Orleans Suspects @ Dakota Jazz Club – Minneapolis, MN
3/23/18 – Lorde @ Xcel Center
4/2/18 – Judas Priest/Saxon/Black Star Riders @ The Armory
4/21/18 – Dave Davies @ Medina Ballroom
5/2/18 – The Radiators @ Tipitinas – New Orleans, LA
5/3/18 – Lyle Lovett/Old Crow/Kermit Ruffins/Big Sam/Honey Island @ Jazz Fest – New Orleans, LA
5/3/18 – The Gatorators @ Café Istanbul – New Orleans, LA
5/5/18 – Arlo Guthrie @ O’Shaughnessy Theatre – St. Paul, MN
5/12/18 –New Orleans Suspects/Honey Island Swamp Band @ Hook & Ladder Theater
5/20/18 – Rob Lowe @ State Theatre
6/3/18 – Parker Milsap @ Turf Club – St. Paul, MN
6/8/18 – Paul Simon @ Xcel Center
6/22/18 – Dead & Company @ Alpine Valley – East Troy, WI
6/30/18 – Eagles/Jimmy Buffett @ Target Field – Minneapolis, MN
7/8/18 – Ray Wylie Hubbard @ Dakota Jazz Club
7/14/18 – Charlie Maguire, Pop Wagner & Tony Glover @ Crooners Lounge
7/17/18 – George Clinton & P-Funk @ Varsity Theater – Minneapolis, MN
7/27/18 – Def Leppard/Journey/Cheap Trick @ Target Field
8/9/18 – Los Lobos/Big Head Todd @ Vetter Amphitheater – Mankato, MN
8/14/18 – Mofro/Blackberry Smoke @ MN Zoo – Apple Valley, MN
9/1/18 – Taylor Swift @ US Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN
9/4/18 – Metallica @ Target Center
9/22/18 – Paul Simon @ Flushing Meadows – Queens, NY
9/29/18 – Honey Island Swamp Band @ Hook & Ladder Theater
10/5/18 – Lynyrd Skynyrd/Bad Company @ Xcel Center
10/8/18 – Elvin Bishop @ Dakota Jazz Club
10/14/18 – Rod Stewart/Cyndi Lauper @ Xcel Center
10/18/18 – Foo Fighters @ Xcel Center
10/19/18 – Widespread Panic @ Riverside Theatre – Milwaukee, WI
10/21/18 – Phil Collins @ Target Center
10/25/18 – The New Orleans Suspects @ Dakota Jazz Club
10/25/18 – The Butanes w/Dave, Camile & Reggie @ Shaws Bar & Grill – Mpls, MN
10/26/18 – Raw Oyster Cult/Frogleg @ Hook & Ladder Theater
10/27/18 – Raw Oyster Cult/Frogleg @ Hook & Ladder Theater
12/8/18 – Hot Tuna @ Hopkins Art Center – Hopkins, MN
12/12/18 – Bob Seger @ Xcel Center

And looking forward to 2019, besides the awesome Radiators concerts I just saw over the weekend in New Orleans I have tickets for a ton of other cool concerts that I can’t wait to see.  Here’s to another great year of live music!