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Hamilton the Musical

We saw the musical “Hamilton” at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Friday, October 6, 2017.  I had been listening to the music from “Hamilton” since April of the year before when I found the cast album on the airplane screens on a Delta Airlines flight.  After I got home I streamed the cast album on Hoopla and enjoyed it.  I especially liked the humorous song “You’ll Be Back” sung by the character King George III.  The part of Hamilton on the album was played by the musical’s composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.  This was the first I had ever heard of him, though he had written and starred in another Tony-winning musical many years before called “In the Heights.”  I also streamed that one from Hoopla.  Most of the roles in the original Broadway production of Hamilton were played by non-Caucasians including the other main character Aaron Burr played by Leslie Odom Jr. on Broadway.  For my birthday in 2016, I got the official vocal selections book for “Hamilton.”  We learned to play several of the songs and later performed a few at open mics such as “You’ll Be Back,” “My Shot,” and “Dear Theodosia.”  We didn’t think we would be able to afford to see the musical when it came to Seattle in early 2018.  Customers had to enter a lottery to get tickets.  But in the summer of 2017 we planned a trip to Socal in the fall and my in-laws bought us tickets to the official Broadway touring production of “Hamilton” in L.A.

On October 6, 2017, we flew from SeaTac Airport to LAX on Spirit Airlines.  They did a humorous safety briefing and joked about their miniscule tray tables.  After we arrived my in-laws took us to Zankou Chicken in Glendale for lunch.  It was delicious as usual and a lot of food.  The weather was rather warm in Socal and it got up to 100 degrees in Covina the next day.  In the evening of October 6 my in-laws lent us one of their cars to go to the Pantages Theatre.  We took the 101 that was quite slow with traffic.  I can’t remember where we exited but it was vaguely familiar.  We made our way to Hollywood Blvd and drove west.  At the intersection where the Pantages is (Argyle Ave.), we turned right and then made another right into an underground parking garage.  I don’t remember how we chose this place to park but it cost $12.50.  We had to go down a couple of levels and back into a parking spot that was partitioned by a white metal chain.  It looked like they expected many more cars.

I can’t remember when we left for the theatre or when we arrived at the parking garage.  From our parking space we took an escalator up to Hollywood Blvd.  We weren’t hungry enough to have dinner but felt like we needed a snack so we went to Pressed Juicery.  We got some strawberries with chocolate and one of their house-made juices.  They were an adequate “dinner” outside in the warm night air.  We then crossed Argyle Avenue.  Large Hamilton posters adorned the high wall of the Pantages Theatre.  Most people were much more dressed up than we were.  Before we had left for L.A. my wife had made sure she could access our electronic tickets on her phone.  We were glad it worked because it looked like others in the queue had trouble pulling up theirs.  But we checked in just fine.  We took note of the casting sign that said some of the understudies were playing roles that evening such as Dan Belnavis playing King George.  We went upstairs and to the right.  An employee then directed us down some stairs to the last curtain.

At some point on the way to our seats someone handed us playbills.  They had inserts with the cast for that evening’s performance.  The only substitutions were Dan Belnavis as King George, A. Larson as Charles Lee, and several in the ensemble.  We reached our seats at 7:35 pm on the balcony level in the fourth row from the front.  They were the furthest to the right except for one seat.  The other seats filled up quickly and I think the show was sold out or nearly.  The audience consisted of all ages included some kids.  On the stage below they had at least two revolving circular sections, one within the other.  They would use them very effectively in the show.  There was also a second loft or balcony level above the main stage floor.  It had lots of rigging and some stairs that could be dropped and raised.  On the stage were a wooden chair, a barrel, and a chest.  The theatre itself had lots of gold-painted intricate carving on the walls and ceiling.

By 8:00 pm, the seats were nearly full.  The lights dimmed and we heard a voice over the speakers with a snooty English accent say, “This is your king” and tell us to silence our cell phones and unwrap any candy we might have in plastic.  Then the show began.  I thought I knew the story well because nearly all of it is sung on the cast album. But seeing it really added so much more dimension.  Singers stood all over the stage and the upper loft level.  The stairs lowered and rose as needed.  In addition to the cast were dancers often wearing sleeveless, though still period outfits.  They used the revolving stages to great effect.  There were some large scale dance numbers and scenes with just a few characters.  We couldn’t see the orchestra at all and I think they were below the stage.

We enjoyed the acting and singing very much especially Michael Luwoye as Hamilton, Joshua Henry as Aaron Burr, and Solea Pfeiffer as Eliza Hamilton.  They sounded just as good as the Broadway cast album.  The understudy Dan Belnavis did a great job as King George and was one of the most humorous characters.  Isaiah Johnson who played the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson was also humorous.  He had his hair in a man bun as Lafayette and let it out in a sculpted afro as Jefferson for which he also wore a shiny green suit.  Another humorous scene was when Eliza beat-boxed for 9-year-old Philip Hamilton’s rap.  Listening to the soundtrack I thought they would have an intermission after the Revolutionary War scenes, but they actually didn’t have it until Hamilton was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury.  The intermission occurred at 9:20 pm.  They did a great job with the dramatic duel scene at the end.

We enjoyed “Hamilton” the musical very much, probably even more than “Fun Home” a few months earlier.  I’m glad we had the chance to see the official Broadway touring production.  We did many other things on the trip to Socal such as dine with family at the North Woods Inn in Alhambra, meet up with friends at Juan Pollo in East L.A. and Brunch Coffee in Covina.  We walked around downtown Alhambra and downtown Covina.  It was very hot, up to 100 degrees in the afternoon in Covina.  We went to the Fret House where we got a guitar pick and a folder that we still have as of JUne 2019.  We returned to SeaTac on Monday, October 9 so glad we did not throw away our shot to see “Hamilton.”

Stonegate Pizza

We had dinner at Stonegate Pizza for the first time on Wednesday, February 1, 2017. We had been performing at open mics off and one for the past couple of months or so. My wife heard about an open mic at Stonegate pizza hosted by someone named Leify Green. To get there we took I-5 south and exited onto S. 56^th Street. This exit required us to first turn left onto Tacoma Mall Blvd and then turn right onto S. 56^th St. We drove west several blocks and turned right onto S. Tacoma Way. We found Stonegate Pizza on the right. The only parking that we were able to find was parallel along S. Tacoma Way. We've been back to Stonegate many times since then and always had to park on the street, sometimes on the opposite side. This first time we arrived at 6:30 pm.

We entered a room with a couple of pool tables, an upright piano, and possibly an unused bar. The main restaurant is in the next room to the left and one slight step up. Along one wall is an L-shaped bar. Along the street-side wall is the stage that is elevated fairly high and has at least one set of stairs on the left. The rest of the space consists of tables: a few high ones with stools along the wall opposite the bar and many of standard height that seat between two and six. Lighting is fairly minimal. The ceiling is high and there's some interesting décor on the walls such as a guitar and some art. I think there are even things on the ceiling such as what look like playing cards. On the wall opposite the bar was a chalk board indicating the live acts performing each day that week. Leify Green was listed for Wednesday. Before eating we walked to the back of the restaurant and found another upright piano painted with wavy stripes. Near it was a flight of stairs up to another room with a small stage, some benches, and floor space. But it wasn't as clean or set up as the main room. We later learned they have swing dance lessons up there.

We had originally heard that the open mic was held upstairs but that turned out not to be true. We sat down at a small table on the left side facing the stage. The server brought us menus that differed slightly from the ones we saw online. They did not have the calamari appetizer or the seafood salad. They did have sections for sandwiches, burgers, pizzas and calzones, appetizers, and desserts that included the dessert pizzas. For drinks they served Coke products but also specialty root beer and ginger beer. I think I had the root beer on this first visit and my wife had ginger ale. She had the ginger beer on a later visit and found it preferable to the ale. We placed our orders. The first thing they brought was my salad made with "leafy greens," tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette. I asked for no croutons and they complied. The salad was decent.

Our main courses took about half an hour to arrive. We listened to the classic rock satellite radio that they played over the speakers. The place was fairly empty when we arrived but while we waited more parties entered and sat down, some at the bar. When our food finally arrived it was well worth the wait. My wife got the Greek Calzone that was filled with garlic, feta cheese, red onions, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese, and pesto sauce. Most pizzas were available as calzones that were usually less expensive. The feta was actually on the outside of the Greek calzone. My wife enjoyed it. I got the peanut butter burger. I asked that they make it without cheese and they complied. It tasted great: a decent-sized burger cooked well-done on a toasted bun. But it was very messy. I still enjoyed it and it was plenty of food.

While we had dinner, the host of the open mike, Leify Green, arrived. He put the sign-up sheet for the open mic on a table very close to ours. He signed up to perform first and several others followed. Leify started his set at around 8:30 pm. On stage was a music stand that he used as a table for his drink. He played guitar and sang several mellow rock songs. I think he had written most of them but a few could have been covers. He started with "Give Me a Push" and followed with "The Next Train." Before the next song he described how he wrote it after a trip to Seattle for a gig several years ago. It snowed a lot and the gig was canceled. The song was "Snowstorm in Seattle" that would grow to be one of our favorite songs by Leify. He mentioned that the song had been played on King 5 radio. His next song sounded like one by Jane's Addiction and his last song, "Set Yourself Free" was one he wrote. It might have been during this visit to Stonegate or a later one when Leify noticed I was writing something down and asked if I was a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine.

I think Leify introduced the next performer as "Nate the Red" who did have red hair and a red beard. He started with one of his own songs, "Lonely Road" and followed with what he described as "the closest thing to a ballad about South Tacoma." It was called "Shine Over" and included the lyric, "this is where Tacoma comes to life." I think he used Leify's guitar, or that may have been the next performer, "Jonny No H." The last performer we saw was Dylan Gormly (sp?) who played some of his own songs on a keyboard he brought.

Over the next several months we returned to Stonegate many times. We went to many of the Wednesday open mics and performed some sets of cover songs. We learned that they had swing dance lessons in the upstairs room at 7 pm on Wednesdays. We got to know Leify and some of the other performers. We tried some other things on the menu such as their Alfredo, pot stickers, club sandwich, wings, and other pizzas. I tried their fries a couple of times. The first time they were undercooked but the second time they were good. We ordered ginger beer that was often Bundeberg brand. We purchased Leify Green's CD and always cheered loudly when he performed "The Same Way" that has some lyrics in Spanish. Leify Green stepped down as host of the open mic in September 2017. He said he would be replaced by Josh Alday, a frequent collaborator, drum maker, and part of the band Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo. We'll miss Leify but we're glad we visited Stonegate so many times in 2017.

Hijos Del Mar by David Bisbal

David Bisbal released his sixth and latest studio album, "Hijos Del Mar", on December 2, 2016. I purchased it as a digital download from Amazon.com a few weeks later. It's a standard-length album of 10 tracks though compared to many albums these days with 12 or more tracks and/or bonus tracks, Hijos Del Mar seems short. But artistically it's as long as it needs to be. David Bisbal is one of my favorite Latinx singers. He hadn't released an album since Tú y Yo in March 2014, the same month when two of my other favorite Latinx singers also released albums: Shakira by Shakira and Loco De Amor by Juanes. They would both release their next albums in the first half of 2017. But David Bisbal got his album out first.

"Hijos Del Mar" seems like a more personal album than Bisbal's others. He seems like he wants to express certain ideas and emotions rather than simply appeal to his audience. There aren't any overly catchy, fast, and celebratory songs such as "Llorare Las Penas," "Ave Maria," "Silencio," "Esclavo de Tus Besos," "No Amanece" or "Hoy." The songs on his latest album sound either more serious or more fantastical. The title of the album means "children of the sea" and brings to mind Atlantis, nautical parents, growing up on the coast, travel, and adventure. But the song titles have more to do with pain and getting over something with the exception of the title track. The album's cover shows Bisbal with shorter hair seeming to sink below the surfaces of the water from which a bright light shines from the sun. He has uncharacteristically shorter hair and is fully clothed. It looks hardly anything like the sleeve of "Nevermind" by Nirvana, though they both depict underwater scenes. Perhaps because "Nevermind" seems more like a swimming pool and "Hijos Del Mar" like the sea.

The first song, "Fiebre" uses subtle electronic sounds, a mid-tempo beat, and mild percussion. His singing gets louder after the first verse. It's about lovesickness a.k.a. "la fiebre que causa tu amor." I'm a little unclear if it's just the subject of the song or both them and the singer who are lovesick. The next song "Lo Tenga o No" begins more slowly beginning with gentle piano. It gets a bit more loud and anthemic for the chorus. Its theme is similar to the first song, asking whether someone loves them. The song is written in the multiple tenses: present such as "Puedo sentir que estás ahí," imperative "Dame un señal," and subjunctive "Lo creas o no." It builds to a crescendo, but never gets loud or fast enough to be too celebratory.

The next song, "Camino A La Verdad" brings down the tempo and volume even further. It seems to describe being in love and with the person in question, but more immersed than happy. Bisbal sounds serious during the choruses. The song never wavers from its slower tempo. He speeds up for the next song "Antes de No" but doesn't become any less serious. This was the first single off the album released in October 2016. The video shows Bisbal drifting from this bedroom to underwater via the ceiling. I'm not sure what the song is about but it seems to get angry or at least pleading. I like the percussion and synthesizer riffs. It could be a plea against environmental destruction.

Bisbal continues the gloomy mood with the next song, "Duele Demasiado." I think it's about the plight of refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria and/or child poverty in remote parts of the world. Bisbal has sung about serious causes before such as the earlier song "Soldado de Papel" but he sounds more urgent on this latest record. The next song is the title track. It's faster but still urgent. I'm not sure what it's about. It mentions barcos de papel and un huracán. The title is sung during the bridge. But a few lines seem like a love song. It's definitely not a happy song. The next song, "Yo te Enseñas a Olvidar" starts more slowly and quietly. It seems to be about breaking up and trying to forget and move on. But the song also gets very dramatic. How does one teach another to forget, anyway?

The next song, "Mi Norte es tu Sur," is probably the fastest. The synth bass sounds like it's from the 1980s dance music. It's another song that's hard to figure out. The title seems to imply something like "my best is your worst" or "my most is your least." The song also has several tenses sometimes all in the same sentence such as "Hoy me iré cuando que se siente alli." Sur is mentioned more frequently than norte. The song also mentions a metaphorical huracán. The next song, "Fue Nuestro Amor" slows things down and revisits the theme of lost love or breaking up. It's another keyboard-heavy song with some soulful singing.

The last song, "Una Palabra" might be the only one that begins with an acoustic guitar. It remains mellow throughout but unlike the others, doesn't sound as urgent or serious. It differs from the others in that it's a positive love song though only quietly celebratory. It's an interesting way to end an album that's mostly gloomy and dark. Maybe he's trying to reassure us that everything isn't all bad, that there's still some good thing. Despite its contrast it still feels like it fits as the last song on the album.

David Bisbal continues his growth as an artist. "Hijos Del Mar" probably expresses his most complex emotions through songs. But their less celebratory themes do not detract from them musically. The album measures up to his previous ones. Bisbal has progressed well beyond his happy pop songs. I like that he doesn't stick to a formula and continues to surprise me.

Stadium High School Presents An Evening with Patrick Sheridan

On Wednesday, October 26, 2016, Stadium High School presented An Evening with Patrick Sheridan, world-famous tuba player and the Stadium High School Concert Winds, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble. I can't remember how we heard about the concert. It was in the same auditorium where we saw Jazz in the Castle the year before. I think we arrived there at 6:35 p.m., possibly later. The seats mostly filled up. The lower floor seats looked like they filled with students from the other ensembles. The first band came out on stage at 6:50 p.m. They were the Concert Winds consisting of 9^th graders. They numbered over 30 musicians and included two who played xylophones. I think the lights dimmed and the band started playing at 7:07 p.m. First the director spoke. They played a couple of pastoral pieces: "Cumberland Cross" and "Yorkshire Ballad." Patrick Sheridan joined them for the third piece, "Nola." He played a large multi-colored tuba. They finished at 7:24 p.m.

Between performances they gave away prizes. I think they had been selling raffle tickets in the lobby or maybe they called out random seat numbers. They gave away a Stadium High School glass and a Patrick Sheridan poster signed by him. The Symphonic Band soon took the stage. They consisted of 10^th-12^th graders who did not have to audition. They first performed "Sea Songs" by Ralph Vaughn Wiliams. They followed it with "Gabriel's Oboe" for which Patrick Sheridan joined them on oboe. He indicated that the song was from the 1986 movie The Mission. Their last song was "Shepards Hey!" by Percy Grainger that featured xylophone. They finished at around 7:50 p.m. The third and final band was the Wind Ensemble. They consisted of 10^th-12^th graders who auditioned the spring before. Their instruments included a stand-up bass and a contrabass clarinet. This band is nationally ranked as one of the top 16 bands in the country. They planned to travel to the National Concert Band Festival in early 2017. Stadium was planning major fundraising efforts to send the Ensemble to the festival include a mattress sale in early November.

The Wind Ensemble performed three pieces: "Magnolia Star" by Steve Danyew, "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light" by William Latham, and "Variations on America" by Charles Ives. Before their fourth and last piece, Patrick Sheridan gave a short speech. He talked about how he first learned the tuba. How he attended a tuba convention consisting of "50 guys speculating about what it was like to kiss a girl." He had co-written the next piece, "The Strait of Hormuz" with Sam Rilafian. A lively tune with middle-Eastern influence. Sheridan and the band played with much energy. They finished at 8:45 p.m. We filed out of the crowded auditorium past many students and attendees seeking to talk to Patrick Sheridan. Some were seeking his autograph.

We noticed our program had a small sheet of music for the song "Eye of the Tiger." That makes sense since Stadium High School's mascot is the Tiger. We spent another fun evening at Stadium High School a.k.a. Hogwarts.

Def Leppard Live at the Tacoma Dome

I saw the band Def Leppard perform live at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday, October 1, 2016. I had heard of them for decades. My older brother had their album "Hysteria" on cassette and he had also borrowed from a friend the vinyl LP of their album "Pyromania." I had their album "High and Dry" on cassette. I still have it, actually. I heard about this concert back in late February or early March 2016. The bill also included Tesla and REO Speedwagon as opening acts. I was familiar with both of them, though more so with the latter. I had heard their songs "I Can't Fight This Feeling" and "In My Dreams" in the '80s along with "Keep on Loving You" and "Time for Me to Fly." I think that Tesla are most famous for their cover of the song "Signs." We also knew their ballad "Love Song" from our compilation album Now That's What I Call Classic Power Ballads. I was able to find nearly all of REO Speedwagon's albums on Freegal along with a live version of Def Leppard's Hysteria and a few Tesla albums.

I didn't download all of the bands' music from Freegal. I tried to just get their hits. Tesla had a couple of their latest albums available and a collection of their hits played acoustically. I didn't like these versions so much. They had a bit of a twang. I liked better their later albums and their title song from the Last Action Hero soundtrack. I was able to stream more of their music from Hoopla such as their famous live version of "Signs." They recently released a live version of their album that included a new song, "Save the Goodness." This song featured Phil Collen from Def Leppard on guitar. REO Speedwagon are the oldest of the three bands with music going back to the late 1960s. They've had some lineup changes including a lead singer other than usual singer Kevin Cronin in the early 1970s. The only consistent band member has been their keyboard player, Ned Doughty. From Freegal I learned about many more of their songs. The one I like the most is the fast-paced "Roll with the Changes." My wife got a music fake book of classic rock that included this song.

I ordered tickets for the concert in March from Ticketmaster. They came in the mail within a week. They were very expensive at over $70 each. I couldn't find any cheaper ones on the seat selection website. I was very busy between March and October 1. I took three trips: one to Baltimore for work in April, another to Juneau to visit family in May and one to Fargo, ND in July for work. My wife and I attended three other concerts: Lush in April at the Showbox, Belly in August at the Neptune, and The Monkees at the Moore Theatre in September. I learned that the Def Leppard concert was to support their latest album, the eponymous "Def Leppard" released in 2015. I streamed it on Hoopla. The songs include "Let's Go," "Dangerous" that I heard at the gym, "We Belong" that features all five band members on vocals, and humorous "Man Enough." We watched some Def Leppard videos on our Roku. They have two lead guitarists: Phil Collen who wears his hair the shortest and often performs in "No Shirt Shape" and originally Steve Clark who died in 1989. He was replaced by Vivian Campbell from Northern Ireland. The others are from north-central England, Sheffield, I believe. Their drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a car accident in the mid-1980s. He played with a specially designed electronic drum kit. Their later videos have more computer-animated content. Phil Collen actually looks like he's in better shape in the more recent videos than in the ones from the 1980s.

For a while I considered not attending the concert and I even posted the tickets for sale on the Ticketmaster website. However, they added very high surcharges to them, amounting to over $100 per ticket. They never sold and I eventually took them down.

On Saturday, October 1, my brother met up at our home at around 6 p.m. The tickets said the concert started at 7 p.m. I never learned when the doors to the Tacoma Dome opened but it might have been before 6. We had dinner at home and then my wife drove us to Puyallup Avenue and D Street right outside Alfred's Cafe. We walked up D Street where my brother stopped to buy a Def Leppard T-shirt from someone for just $15. The sidewalk became more crowded as we approached the Tacoma Dome. The crowd looked to be our ages and older, though some looked younger and some parents brought their children. Most people wore black. Many had leather jackets. I saw a couple of people dressed as hair band rockers with spandex and big hair. They looked like a couple of people we saw at the Van Halen concert in May 2012. We found the queues were shorter at one of the higher entrances further south. Unlike I had seen at other concerts, they did not have separate queues for men and women. They did have metal detectors, though they just had us take everything out of our pockets and hold them up in our hands. Once we got through some employees scanned our tickets.

We entered the Tacoma Dome and it took a while to find our seats. To get there we had to walk about halfway around. We walked down the ramp of one of the left side stands all the way to the Tacoma Dome floor. I think someone again checked our tickets before we reached the floor. Once there we walked to the back stands and up the ramp towards the left side of that section. Our seats were in section 1A, row 12, seats 1 and 2. They were further down than I thought on the left side facing the stage. There were only three seats in our row on our side of the aisle. No one else ever sat down in the third seat. We sat down at 7:20 p.m.

The first band, Tesla, was already performing on stage. I think they did the song "Signs" as we were walking to our seats. I noticed that they did not sing it with profanity, unlike their live recording. They also have two guitarists. Their lead singer, Jeff Keith, wore a bright white suit. The Tesla logo was projected high on a screen behind them. Soon after we sat down Phil Collen joined Tesla on stage to perform the song "Save the Goodness." Collen wore a black vest. One of the guitarists played a double-necked guitar. Collen left and Tesla performed their ballad, "Love Song." They got louder for their next song, "Little Suzi" followed by "Cowboy" to finish out their set at 7:43 pm. It looked like there were white pillars on the stage. The drummer had played on a slightly elevated platform. While the crew took down Tesla's equipment and prepared for the next act, I walked around a little bit. They sold merch at a large stand between the back and side sections. T-shirts were very expensive at $40-$45.

At 8 p.m. sharp, REO Speedwagon took their places on stage. Their logo appeared on the large screen behind them and on either side of it small screens showed the band performing. Ned Doughty stood at a wooden organ. Kevin Cronin played guitar along with the guitarist and bass player. In place of the white columns for Tesla were vertical streams of lights. There was a piano on the right side of the stage. They started with the "advice" song "Don't Let Him Go" followed by the more familiar "Take It on the Run." They got more serious with "Keep Pushin'" and then very sentimental with "I Can't Fight This Feeling." They seemed to alternate between ballads and rockers. Their next song, "Tough Guys" wasn't familiar. Somehow I missed downloading it from Freegal. It's on what's probably their most successful album, "High Infidelity." They continued the setlist pattern with the ballad "Time for Me to Fly."

Before the next song, either Kevin or one of the others said it was time for their "secret weapon." One of the guitarists grabbed a double-necked guitar. The bassist played loudly and sang the next song "Back on the Road Again." Kevin sang the next one, the equally serious "Riding the Storm Out." After that song Kevin sat down at the piano. He said that he sat down at a piano in 1980 and wrote the next song and nothing has been the same since then. He then started playing what sounded like chords on the piano and the others joined him. The song was one of their most famous: the ballad "Keep on Loving You." But it was the next song that I was waiting for. I'm not sure if it's their most famous song, but worked out well as their last. I recognized the opening notes and sang along to "Roll with the Changes." I think many were standing so I stood up too. At the end of the song Kevin said, "We love you, Tacoma!" and they left the sage at 9 p.m.

At 9:10 p.m. a large black curtain dropped down with the Def Leppard logo. More people arrived at the concert and sat down. At 9:20 the lights dimmed and the curtain folded up quickly at angles from below. It looked very aerodynamic. The curtain folded to reveal Def Leppard on stage. Now Phil Collen was in no-shirt shape. Rick Allen was in back at his electronic drum kit at a very highly elevated platform. Rick "Sav" Savage's hair was long, blond and curly just like in the '80s. Joe Elliott also had long blond hair but it was different from in the past. It looked blonder and more styled. Phil Collen actually looked to be in better shape than 20-30 years ago. Vivian Campbell had short dark hair. So both guitarists had short hair while the others' hair were long. The big screen behind the band showed them, changing between one and another. The small screens on either side also showed individual band members from different angles. They launched right into their first song, the appropriately titled "Let's Go" from their latest eponymous album. They went back 29 years for the next song, "Animal" that I had also heard at Power Pacing class that morning. The screen showed neon signs for casinos.

They went back even further for the next song, "Let It Go" from their 1981 album High and Dry that I have on cassette. Collen and Campbell played guitar loudly. After their finished, Joe Elliott said "Good evening, Tacoma." It was back to 2015 for the next song, "Dangerous." The big back screen split into five vertical segments and each one showed Phil Collen: no-shirt shape times five. I think Joe Elliott said they were going back to 1983 for the next one: "Foolin" from their album Pyromania. They then got a bit quieter for the next one, "Love Bites." On the back screen some cursive writing appeared as if being written. I think it spelled out the lyrics to the song. Joe Elliott introduced Vivian "Viv" Campbell. Viv played the intro to "Armageddon It," a loud and fast song. After they finished Joe Elliott said that "the last gig Steve Clark played was in this building." He then left the stage. Sav played bass. Rick Allen joined him. Then Viv and Phil joined in. Joe returned wearing a top hat and a shiny coat. They performed a cover of the song "Rock On." They then performed the humorous-sounding song "Man Enough" from their latest album. The screen showed Day of the Dead skulls. There were times during the concert when the screen split into the five segments and each segment would show a different member of the band. They usually didn't appear in the same order as they did on stage.

For the next song, the big screen split into a bunch of small screens reminiscent of the video of the song "Rocket." They then went back to High and Dry and performed "Bringing on the Heartbreak" straight from that song into the instrumental "Switch 265." Joe Elliott left the stage and Sav and Rick played an extended drum and bass solo. I think this was the point when Sav stood on high drummer's platform with Rick. Joe returned with another costume change. I think he wore a blue coat and black T-shirt and pants. They performed "Hysteria" as the screen showed old footage of them including Steve Clark. They performed their early '90s song "Let's Get Rocked." I should mention that I had to stand up for most of the concert. I sat down to rest at times. But I was standing up and singing along to the next song, "Pour Some Sugar on Me." They finished it to loud applause and left the stage at 10:42 p.m.

We all cheered and stomped and Def Leppard returned at 10:44. Joe said to Rick Allen, "Start us off." Rick then said that familiar song start that I'll try to write out phonetically: "Oten gleeton glauten globen" and they performed "Rock of Ages." They showed on the large screen views from cameras that Phil and Viv had mounted on the necks of their guitars facing their fingers. I could see them plucking out the individual notes rapidly. I can't remember if they used picks but I could see Rick's bare arm. The screen then switched to filmstrips of black and white photos of the band and they performed "Photograph," naturally. They finished and all walked to the front of the stage to loud applause. It was nearly 11 p.m.

We followed the crowd out of the Tacoma Dome and down D Street. We stopped in front of Alfred's Café. It was closed and many people seemed disappointed at this. Traffic built up very heavily on Puyallup Avenue. It was difficult for my wife to pick us up there and she ended up having to make a U-turn but we made it home. My brother didn't make it home until the next day. Luckily it wasn't raining much and he didn't have to ride the storm out.

The Monkees Live at the Moore Theatre

We saw The Monkees perform live at the Moore Theatre in Seattle on Sunday, September 25, 2016. They're a band from the 1960s that started as a band on TV but soon became a real-life rock band. 2016 was their 50^th anniversary. My wife heard that they had released a new studio album Good Times earlier in the year that included songs written by Noel Gallagher, Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge of XTC, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne who also writes songs for the musical TV comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The original Monkees consisted of four: Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Michael "Wool Hat" Nesmith. Davy Jones died in 2012 and Wool Hat wouldn't be playing on the 50^th anniversary tour though he did help make the latest album, singing and playing on several songs. I had heard of The Monkees from their TV show. I may have seen a few episodes and I had heard of their songs "I'm a Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville" and I later heard "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone."

With our Roku, we watched some Monkees videos on YouTube. They showed one for their new song "You Bring the Summer" written by Andy Partridge. It shows computerized images of The Monkees in funny settings and situations. One of Wool Hat's children worked on the video. We also saw the old video of "Daydream Believer" that showed Davy Jones doing his "crab dance." We watched a couple of Guns 'N Roses videos that showed Axl Rose doing a similar dance. My wife ordered the album Good Times that came with some stickers of Monkees outfits, their car, and other things. We enjoyed the album. It has some old recordings reworked such as the title track where Micky duets with Harry Nilsson and a posthumous song by Davy Jones, "Love to Love." I especially like the song "She Makes Me Laugh" written by Rivers Cuomo. Micky sings lead on most songs, with Wool Hat singing on others and Peter on lead on two.

My wife also got a 2-CD Monkees Anthology. It had their big hits that we knew but also many others we didn't know. We especially liked the songs "I Wanna Be Free," "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)," "Randy Scouse Git," and "Your Auntie Grizelda." They have tried different musical styles such as Cajun for "Sweet Young Thing." Their song "The Door into Summer" mentions a pennywhistle band. "Zor and Zam" is a song about kings at war with what sounds like an anti-war message. They have at least two songs about toys: "Cuddly Toy" and "All of Your Toys." Other "tropes" in their songs are summer, girls named Mary, and trains. They have two songs called "You and I." Using Hoopla, we streamed all their studio albums. They included some strange tracks that were often more talking than singing. We did get to hear many of their "deeper" tracks. We found it interesting how their sound changed so much for their 1980s album Pool It!. They went back to their normal sound for their '90s album Justus. We listened to a couple compilation albums and one live album that played their shows in Seattle, Spokane, and Portland, Oregon. The album caught their "Monkee-ing" around on stage. Wool Hat called the song "Scroungy Girlfriend" though it was "Sunny Girlfriend." Micky had to return to the stage to finish singing "Mary Mary." At one point they introduced "The world's best-looking midget, David Thomas Jones." At another they had everyone in the audience flash their camera flash cubes. We wondered what they would do when we saw them.

On Sunday, September 25, we left Tacoma at 5:15 p.m. We took the I-5 north and exited on the left at Seneca. We had to be careful not to merge too far left or we would have ended up on the express lanes. Once off the freeway we drove west on Seneca down the hill all the way to 1^st Avenue. We then turned right onto 1^st and drove past the Showbox where we saw Lush back in April. We turned right onto Virginia Street and searched for a parking lot or garage. We saw the Moore Theatre at the corner of 2^nd and Virginia. It was about 6 p.m. when the doors were scheduled to open and it looked like the queue was moving. We weren't able to park in a garage near Westlake Mall because they closed at 9 p.m. We found a covered lot open all night at the southwest corner of 3^rd Street and Virginia. It cost $15 and we had to back into a spot. We then walked along Virginia and 2^nd to arrive at the Moore Theatre at 6:09 p.m. The doors had opened so there was no queue. They scanned our tickets and did a bag check.

Once inside we learned that the second balcony where our seats were located would not be open and we could sit in the first balcony. However, they hadn't yet opened the first balcony. We waited near the entrance that was blocked by a velvet rope. While waiting we watched the other attendees. I was wearing a wool hat similar to that worn by Mike Nesmith in the TV series. We saw quite a few other people wearing wool hats either green or blue. Many wore Monkees T-shirts. I saw someone wearing a Motörhead T-shirt. Some people had a souvenir program that we would later find they were selling at the merch table down a hall. The crowd consisted of all ages: old and young. Many parties looked like they consisted of multiple generations. We saw a couple of people in wheelchairs and one using a cane.

At 6:25 p.m. they started letting people into the first balcony. We walked up a ramp and a couple of flights of stairs. After we reached the balcony, a staffer told us that since we had tickets for the second balcony that we could sit in any seats T and above in the first balcony. We climbed up the fairly steep aisle steps to row T and sat down on the right side of the middle section. We were fairly high up and I can't imagine how high we would have been in the second balcony. The view of the stage wasn't too bad, though. We could see a screen on the back of the stage that had the Monkees logo in red on a bright yellow-green background. On stage were two drum kits, 8-9 guitars on racks, two keyboards in back and one in front. Over the speakers they played Monkees music such as "Sweet Young Thing." They also played songs from their latest album. On the first floor of the Theatre in the lobby they sold drinks at a large bar and merch at a table with the wares tacked up on a wall. They included T-shirts that cost over $35 and blue wool hats with the Monkees logo for $25.

At 7:15 p.m. the lights dimmed slightly. The background color of The Monkees logo on the screen had changed to blue and then the screen started showing the opening segment of The Monkees TV show where they are introduced. At 7:17 p.m. Micky and Peter came out on stage to loud applause. Several other musicians followed them. One of them sat down at the drum kit on our left. Micky wore black pants, a black T-shirt and vest and a black hat. Peter wore a shiny blue shirt. Right away they played the first song, "Listen to the Band." It wasn't the first song I expected, but I guess the title is appropriate. Micky and Peter both played guitars for this song. On the screen they showed clips from The Monkees TV show in black and white. The band consisted of two guitarists, a drummer, a keyboard player who stood and played a couple of keyboards and a woman who sang background vocals.

After the first song, Micky put down the guitar. They performed their more familiar song "Last Train to Clarksville." The screen showed this clip of the Monkees acting out a Western with tying Peter to train tracks. Davy Jones wore a white cowboy outfit. They then performed "That Was Then, This Is Now." After they finished, Micky sat down at the other drum kit. He raised the sticks above his head and everyone cheered. I think Peter asked something like, "All he does is raise the sticks and you cheer?" They performed "Saturday's Child." The screen showed the Monkees playing with a large group of young children on the beach. The next song was the first of the concert for which Peter sang lead: "Your Auntie Grizelda." He had put down his guitar and even danced during some of the solos. The screen showed scenes of the Monkees with elderly women. Micky then stood up from his drum kit, resumed his place in front of the stage and they performed "She." The screen showed clips of the young Monkees with women closer to their own age.

After they finished, Micky said, "Thank you so much. This next song is the first single off our new album, Good Times." They then performed "She Makes Me Laugh," the song written by Rivers Cuomo from Weezer. The screen showed the Monkees drawn into comic strips and speaking the lyrics as cartoon bubbles. Peter played the banjo during the song. He said he would sing the next one that was sung by "our dear departed brother." It was "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" that Davy Jones sang for the studio version. The screen showed what looked like playing cards with pictures of the Monkees. The cards shuffled around and spelled out the lyrics to the chorus of the song. Peter played keyboard for part of the song. After the song Micky picked up a guitar and they performed "The Girl I Knew Somewhere." He said, "Thank you" after they finished and the next one was one that they hadn't done on tour for a very long time called "Steam Engine." It was a fast, rockin' song.

Before the next song, Peter said they were going to run the wayback machine of Mr. Peabody and Sherman to capture the voice of their dear departed brother Davy Jones. We then heard Jones starting to sing the reflective song "Shades of Gray." After the first verse and chorus Peter took over singing lead. On the screen they showed black and white photos of The Monkees in their heyday. After that song, they introduced a special guest, Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie. Gibbard is from the Seattle area. He wrote one of the songs on the latest Monkees album and that was the one they played after Gibbard strapped on a guitar: "Me and Magdalena." On the screen they showed images of the Monkees walking in nature that included green ferns. Micky then asked Gibbard what song he would like to play. Gibbard said he knew all their songs and wanted to play "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)." He sang lead for this funny song originally sung by Davy Jones. Gibbard left after that song and I think Peter said the next one was his favorite written by Michael (Nesmith). They then performed "Papa Gene's Blues" while the screen showed photos of Michael. Peter played a guitar solo.

Micky and Peter gave the next song a long introduction. I think Micky said something about the recording of the song being "a wondrous experience." Peter jumped in and said that a group of ladies had choreographed a line dance to the song and posted it on YouTube. He announced that they were here tonight. Four women then joined them on stage. They wore red jackets that reminded me of those worn by the line dancers at the Tacoma Buddhist Temple. I think the jackets' labels even said "Japan." They danced in concert as The Monkees performed "You Bring the Summer." I think the screen just showed the computer-generated video we had seen previously on YouTube. One of Michael Nesmith's children helped create that video. The song was written by Andy Partridge of XTC. Later in the song, the ladies walked arm-in-arm each stepping with the same leg, similar to how The Monkees once walked. Before the next song the crew brought out a kettledrum. They gave Peter a brownish colorful cloth that he helped Micky put on like a poncho. Micky said it was a "tablecloth." My wife said they were selling similar "tablecloths" at the merch table. The screen showed a much younger Micky wearing a similar "tablecloth" and playing a kettledrum. On stage they performed Micky's song "Randy Scouse Git." We remembered that in their live album the others said no one could understand a word of this song, least of all Micky.

They finished the song and Micky took off the tablecloth and handed it back to the crew who also removed the kettledrum. Micky or maybe Peter said that 1927 was not a good year for rock 'n roll. They somehow segued from that to talking about the Monkees TV show, how hundreds of guys showed up for the auditions but "they chose us anyway." They described how their first music was played by studio musicians but they pushed for playing their own music and eventually played all the music on one of their early albums, Headquarters. Peter said he wrote the next song that was used during the closing credits of the TV show. I think when Peter said the name of the song just a few people clapped and he said, "Thank you both." They then performed "For Pete's Sake" with Peter singing. He picked up a banjo for the next song saying something about how it started in Appalachia and ended up in Motown. I think he also said, "If you don't like it, it will be over in 2-1/2 minutes." He then started playing a song that sounded like "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" originally made popular by Rita Coolidge. The other musicians soon joined in though Micky had left the stage temporarily. I should mention that when a song ended, the screen switched back to showing The Monkees' logo on a bright colored background.

Micky returned for the next song, the loud and fast "Let's Dance On." The screen showed the Monkees and many others dancing on a crowded floor. At one point the keyboardist played a melodica. After they finished Micky said, "We'll be right back, don't go away. Don't change that channel." They then left the stage at 8:23 p.m. On the screen they showed a few commercials with The Monkees and then some early music videos such as for the songs "Tear Drop City" and "Someday Man." Another showed Davy Jones in a black tuxedo dancing with a woman. They then showed a more recent video about the making of the album Good Times with interviews of Micky, Peter, and Adam Schlesinger. Micky looked very old in the video, older than he had looked on stage. At 8:43 p.m. the lights dimmed. Someone said, "Shhh, you guys ready?" Micky then said, "I'm Micky on drums." The other Monkee said, "I'm Peter on guitar." They started the playing the loud and rockin' song "Mary Mary." The screen showed more Monkees comic strips.

They then performed the rockin song "Circle Sky" while the screen showed the younger Monkees in concert. They continued with "Porpoise Song" for which the screen showed what looked like the Monkees swimming in murky blue water with mermaids. I think Peter had stepped away for this song. He returned for the next one and Micky stepped away. Peter sang "Do I Have to Do This All Over Again." The screen showed the younger Monkees and others dancing as psychedelic colors shone. Micky returned and they played a loud rockin' song, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone." They followed it with "Words" while the screen showed the younger Monkees and a few others with a magician. Peter played keyboard. Micky sang quickly for part of the next song, "Goin' Down" that featured the organ. Most of the way through it Micky paused to introduce the band. At the drum kit that Micky had used I think he said, "This person isn't here." The band included Micky's sister Coco who sang background vocals.

Peter picked up a banjo for the next song that was slower and quieter, the folky "D.W. Washburn." He said the next song was a "Michael song," though actually Michael Murphy rather than Nesmith. I think he said something about Lewis and Clark and they performed "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round" with Peter on vocals. After they finished, Micky said to turn on the wayback machine again. He asked us not to sing along right away and they accompanied the voice of Davy Jones on "Daydream Believer." Many held up their lights including Micky's sister Coco. After the first verse and chorus the crowd sang along. They finished at 9:18 p.m. and left the stage to loud applause and cheers.

We kept on cheering. Many stood up and stomped. They asked, "Is Ben still here?" and Ben Gibbard joined them on stage. They launched right into the Goffin/King song "Pleasant Valley Sunday." On the screen they showed some bright green and yellow psychedelic colors. It looked like they were under water, like we were looking down on them and water dropped from above. As the song went on the picture cleared and showed the faces of the four young Monkees. Before the next song, Micky said something like, "Some of you only know this song from Shrek" and they launched into what is probably the Monkees' biggest hit, "I'm a Believer." We were lucky at this concert in that for the vast majority of the songs those in front of us stayed seated. Those on the floor below stood, some of them danced wildly. But for "I'm a Believer" nearly everyone stood up. The screen showed the Monkees on magazine covers. They finished the song to very loud applause, bowed and left the stage for the final time at 9:28 p.m.

We carefully walked down the steep aisle of the balcony, followed the ramp down to the theater doors and exited. We returned to the parking lot at Virginia and 3^rd that was then much more full than it had been when we parked. We took 3^rd Avenue south to Spring Street where we turned left. We drove up the hill to the I-5 entrance on the right and took the freeway home. We arrived before 11 p.m. on this (Pleasant Valley) Sunday.

Belly Live at the Neptune

We saw the rock band Belly perform live at the Neptune Theatre on Sunday, August 28, 2016. Belly were originally active in the early to mid-1990s. They recorded two albums and broke up in 1996. My wife was a fan of them and saw them live at the Palace in Hollywood after they released their first album, Star. In early 2016 Belly announced that they had reunited and planned an American tour. My wife had a CD that Belly had released in Japan in the early 1990s. In late July 2016 my wife ordered tickets to Belly's show at the Neptune on August 28. She also got a Belly greatest hits CD. I had only heard Belly on my wife's collection of music. We listened to her Belly CDs in the car and I slowly learned their songs, their hits at least: "Feed the Tree," "Gepetto," "Slow Dog," "Now They'll Sleep." The Japanese release had a couple of covers: "It's Not Unusual" originally recorded by Tom Jones and "Trust in Me" that's from the original animated Jungle Book movie. Their greatest hits CD also has a cover of "Are You Experienced?" by Jimi Hendrix.

About a week or so before the concert we tried to find some Belly videos on VEVO with our Roku. The only Belly videos on VEVO were for a more recent rapper who also goes by Belly. We were able to find some Belly (the band) videos on the YouTube channel on Roku. We found official videos for "Feed the Tree," "Gepetto," "Slow Dog," "Now They'll Sleep," and "Super Connected." The videos gave me an idea of the personnel of Belly: lead singer Tanya Donelly with her husky voice and energetic bass player Gail Greenwood who tended to dance and toss her long hair. The other half of the band consisted of brothers Tom Gorman on guitar and Chris Gorman on drums. Gail was not the original bass player. On YouTube we found a video of Belly performing "Feed the Tree" on one of David Letterman's Late Night shows. Paul Shaffer joined them on keyboard and Letterman looked so young. We then saw a video of Belly performing "Gepetto" on the Jon Stewart show. Now Jon Stewart looked very young. I hardly recognized him with his thick very dark hair. He wore jeans and a black leather jacket, a far cry from his grey hair and suit on the Daily Show. After Belly finished the song Stewart rushed onto the stage and danced with Gail.

Belly would be the third band we saw perform in 10 months who were active in the early-to-mid '90s, broke up 20+ years ago and got back together within the past couple of years. In November 2015 we saw Ride perform live at the Neptune. In April we saw Lush perform live at the Showbox. Belly would be our second show at the Neptune. We knew more about going there from our experience seeing Ride. One thing we learned is to get there early enough to get a seat in one of the front rows of the balcony.

On Sunday, August 28, we left for the Neptune at 6:14 p.m. Traffic wasn't too bad going north on the I-5. The weather was a bit cloudy and cool but not raining. This time when we took exit 169, we took the right fork to go to 45^th Street and remembered at the last minute to merge into the right lane. This allowed us to turn right from 7^th Avenue onto 45^th Avenue. We then drove several blocks east and found the Neptune at the southeast corner of 45^th Street and Brooklyn Ave. We noticed a queue along 45^th Street across Brooklyn from the Neptune. We turned left onto Brooklyn Avenue that's a 2-way street and very soon after turned left into the large parking lot on the north side of the Hotel Deca. The parking spaces closer to the hotel were for guests only but anyone could park at the spaces further north, for a small price. At the machine we paid $3.65 to park for the evening. We returned to our car to put the parking receipt on the dash and then walked south along Brooklyn Avenue towards the Neptune.

We had arrived at the parking lot at exactly 7 p.m., the time on our ticket that it said the doors would open. When we reached the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and 45^th Avenue, we saw the doors open and the queue on the west side of Brooklyn cross over to the Neptune. We had to wait for the light to change. The people in the queue looked our age and older. Some younger people crossed the streets with us but they looked like they were heading home from a grocery store. At the door to the Neptune staffers checked my wife's purse and scanned our tickets. We then walked up the center ramp to the balcony. We followed the ramp to the left fork and up a narrower ramp to the balcony. We again had luck with our seats and found a couple in the front row of the section to the right. They weren't along the aisle, though, but at least two seats in.

The house lights were still on as the concert wasn't scheduled to start until 8 p.m. On stage was a drum kit on a slightly elevated platform, two guitars on the left (one acoustic and one electric), two in the middle (again acoustic and electric) and one large on the right whose body had a bit of a Z pattern. The decorations on the walls were the same as when we saw Ride, scenes of mermaids, shells and one of the god Neptune. I noticed that the golden statues of Neptune's head high on the walls had glowing blue eyes, though they turned these off when they turned down the house lights during the concert. I also noticed that the gold-painted woodwork included sculptures of starfish.

Not long before the concert, Belly had posted on Facebook that much of their merch stock had been sold at the previous week's shows in California and Portland, Oregon. They had played two shows at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. We hadn't heard of that venue but saw that it was near 7^th and Garland in City West. They also played shows in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. At the Neptune they had set up a merch table along ramp on the way up to the right balcony. Next to the table was a cardboard sign that said, "Sincere apologies from the once popular '90s band Belly. We did a very poor job predicting the demand for our merch. The pickings are slim but we are practically giving it away. 1 shirt $15. 2 shirts $25. Signed, Tanya, Tom, Gail & Chris." My wife got a grey Belly shirt form the merch table. I didn't need one because I was wearing one my wife had gotten at the previous Belly concert she had attended at the Palace in Hollywood in the early 1990s.

The venue slowly filled up. The floor would eventually fill up completely. Behind the standing section were some padded and folding chairs on rows on a slightly elevated floor. I think they were for VIPs only. They looked mostly filled up by the time the concert started. The balcony did not fill up completely, but over half the seats were occupied. The crowd looked to be our age and older. I noticed that few of them wore T-shirts. Most of them wore business casual shirts mostly in black or other dark colors. I didn't see anyone wearing a concert T-shirt. Perhaps I was the only one wearing a Belly T-shirt. Unlike when we saw Ride, no one wore an "Oh, my back" T-shirt but we did see someone using a power scooter and someone else with a walker. Over the speakers played what sounded like classical or jazz music. It could have been from soundtracks. Before the concert we hadn't heard anything about an opening band. We thought that they still might have one. When we saw New Order in July 2014, we didn't hear about an opening band before the concert but they still had one.

At 8:07 p.m., the house lights dimmed and a band came out on stage to applause. It was Belly. The bass player, Gail, picked up the large bass guitar on the right and said, "What's up, Seattle? We're gonna rock your balls off." They then performed the song "Seal My Fate." Gail would dance around a bit with a wide stance. All four of them looked the same as in the music videos from 20 years ago except the guitarist, Tom, who now had a mustache. I think all of them wore black except for Tom who wore a white shirt with a black vest. Gail wore a bandanna. After they finished their song Tanya asked someone off stage named Brian whether her guitar was in tune. Gail said some things and they performed the fast song "Slow Dog." After that one Gail described how the rhythm section of herself and the drummer, Chris, communicated with grunts and animal noises that the guitarists, Tom and Tanya, couldn't understand. I think Tanya just said, "You're animals." They performed the slower song "White Belly."

After the song Tanya mentioned that her nephew was in the audience. Their next song began quietly but soon got louder and faster. It was "Now They'll Sleep," a single rom their second album. Lighted spinning patterns shone on stage as they performed. Before the next song Gail said, "You guys still care after 21 years." We didn't recognize their next song. It was loud and fast and included the lyric "Turn it up, turn it down." Looking at their setlist for their other shows the week before, we thought the song might have been "Punish" that's not on either of their albums. It could be a new song. I think Tanya said that the next song was "for Bernard." It began slowly and quietly with no bass and blue lights shining on stage, but it soon got faster and louder. We think it was "The Bees." I think it was Gail who said the next song was about a boy and a rocket ship, an "extreme runaway." She also said, "This is waltz so grab a partner. If you can't find a partner, grab a shady drifter." The song was loud but not fast. It did speed up for the choruses. It was "Red."

Before the next song Gail asked if we were ready to pogo like it was 1993. They launched right into the rockin' "Gepetto" and I saw plenty of people pogoing on the floor below. No one on the balcony did though, probably a good thing. After they finished Gail said we were the only audience that clapped perfectly in time with the song. Tanya picked up her acoustic guitar. She said something about it not being in tune. Gail said we all get $1 for every technical glitch. Then a woman near the front of the floor got Tanya to say, "Nigel, your mom is up in front here." Belly performed "Judas My Heart" in English rather than the French version on our greatest hits CD. Gail and Tanya swayed together while playing their guitars. Tanya said the next song would be their last before they took a 10-minute break. I think she said the official name of the show was "An Evening with Belly" that meant they play two sets. They performed the song "Low Red Moon" that began with just Tom and Tanya playing and singing. The others joined in making it louder. Gail tossed her long, thick hair. They left the stage at 9 p.m.

At 9:13 p.m. the lights started to dim and Belly returned to the stage two minutes later and they performed "Full Moon Empty Heart." They began quietly but soon got very loud. At times Tanya sang long and high notes. Their next song, "Angel," began loudly. At the end Chris and Gail kept playing drums and bass into the next song, "Dusted," another loud and fast song. We didn't recognize the next one that was very loud. From other set lists, it might have been "Puberty." I think someone shouted for them play hits and they played their most popular song, "Feed the Tree" that got nearly everyone on the floor dancing. Tanya introduced the next song as "another new one." Naturally we did not recognize it. After consulting earlier set lists, it might have been "Comet." We recognized the next one, the surreal "Spaceman." It started with just Tom and Tanya. The others soon joined in. Tom played a harmonica during one stretch. I think after this song was when Gail gave a shoutout to her friends who drove down from Vancouver, B.C. Their next song began loudly. We soon identified it as "Broken." They followed it with "Super Connected." Their next song began with loud bass. It was "Stay." They played the verses quietly but got loud and anthemic for the choruses. I think they played an extended version. They finished at 10:01 p.m. and left the stage to loud applause and cheering.

The cheering continued for five straight minutes. The band returned at 10:06 p.m. Gail said she wanted to take a picture of us in the crowd. She had just figured out how to use the panorama camera on her new, first smartphone. Belly then performed the song "Thief." After they finished to loud applause they left for the final time at 10:13 p.m. We made our way back up the ramp out of the balcony, down another ramp. A side door let out to Brooklyn Avenue. We saw someone with who looked like a preteen child exiting the theatre. The child was probably the youngest in attendance. We returned to our car, drove south on Brooklyn Ave, turned left on 45^th Street, crossed a bridge onto 5^th Ave once the light turned from "Red" to green. 5^th took us straight onto the I-5 south. There wasn't much traffic so we got home faster than a "Slow Dog." We arrived home at 11:15 p.m. and decided, "Now We'll Sleep."

Lush Live at the Showbox

We saw the band Lush perform at the Showbox in Seattle on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. My wife has been a fan of Lush since they were first active in the early '90s. During that time she saw them live at the Palace in Hollywood. Lush were part of the "shoegazer" movement. They released EPs and several albums. They quit abruptly in 1998 soon after their drummer died tragically. They didn't get back together again until late 2015/early 2016 for a reunion tour. They recorded an EP of four new songs that they released not long before their tour. My wife had a greatest hits CD for them. I enjoyed their more pop-sounding songs such as "Ladykillers," "Single Girl," "Ciao!" a duet with Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, and "500" that begins with the line "Shake, Baby shake." My wife also had the guitar chords for "For Love" that we played on guitar and piano. Closer to the concert she got a Lush box set and about a week before got their new EP. We read an interview online of lead singer/rhythm guitarist Miki Berenyi and lead guitarist Emma Anderson. They said they had to take time off from their day jobs for the tour. Their drummer would be Justin Welch, the former drummer for the band Elastica.

In early 2016 we heard that Lush had reunited and planned to perform at the Coachella festival during the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. We soon learned that they planned to play at the Showbox on April 20. I had heard of the Showbox but never been there. They now have another location, the Showbox Sodo. We purchased tickets online and were given the choice between print-at-home and will call. We chose the latter hoping to get an official printed ticket. Between then and the concert we listened to our Lush CDs and their new EP trying to learn the songs. Their more pop-sounding ones were easy to learn, but their shoegazer songs were harder to identify. Miki sings them in a higher voice that is very soulful and melodic but more difficult to understand her words. We also watched some of their videos online. Their video for "Sweetness and Light" shows them playing music in what looks like a drained swimming pool.

There were some developments on the day of the show. The Facebook page for Lush said that the concert was from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. We considered taking the 594 bus there and back but the last 594 left downtown Seattle at 11:45 p.m. We weren't sure how many opening acts they would have and knew if we missed the last 594 bus, our only alternative would be to take the Link to Seatac airport and a cab back to Tacoma from there. That would probably cost over $80. We knew that there were a few pay parking lots close to the Showbox but that cost between $8 and $10 for the evening. Parking at them would cost less than us both taking the bus, though that didn't factor in the cost of gas used. At the end of the week before we heard that Lush had to cancel their first Coachella appearance and postpone some of their tour dates. Visa issues were delaying their coming to the USA. They had to postpone their shows in San Francisco and in L.A. at the Roxy one week. On the day of the Seattle show we heard that they had to postpone their show in Portland, OR from April 19 to September 27. But they sorted out the visa issues in time for the Seattle show. We also learned that their opening act would be the Seattle band The Young Evils.

We left Tacoma at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. Traffic wasn't too bad going north on the I-5. As usual it looked busier going south. Traffic going north slowed as we entered downtown Seattle and the lighted speed signs slowed us down. We took exit 164A, a rather long and confusing exit with several further exits. We took the one that turned left onto Madison Street. Before making the turn we got into the leftmost lane. This proved to be the correct decision. It would have been harder to make the turn in the lane to the right and that lane on Madison Street would have just turned into a right-hand turn lane anyway. We drove west on Madison Street past the glass building of the Seattle Public Library. Once we reached Western Avenue we turned right. We passed the large parking lot where we had parked one month earlier to attend a function at Pier 55. We crossed Spring St. and Seneca St. After crossing Union we found the combination parking lot and garage on the left. Luckily there wasn't much traffic on Western and we were able to turn left easily into the lot. We arrived there at 5:35 p.m.

The parking website that I had consulted previously said that it cost around $8 to park at the Republic lot at Western and Union in the evening. However, that $8 did not include the parking tax that brought the total cost up to $10. The lot wasn't crowded at all, but we decided to park there anyway. We couldn't see any open parking spots on the street. Once we paid and put the parking receipt on the dashboard, we locked our car and crossed to the east side of Western Avenue. There we found a flight of stairs leading up to First Avenue, the next street to the east. We climbed the stairs that seemed to be associated with the apartments around there. Once we reached First Avenue we crossed the street and found the marquee for the Showbox less than a block to the north. We found the entrance but did not see any outdoor box office. We figured that we couldn't just walk right into the front door. We instead entered through the door to the left of the front door into Kern's Music Shop, the bar and grill associated with the Showbox. Just inside there an employee said we would get tickets with a group number. Just before they opened the doors they would call the group numbers. When we entered they would check for tickets and Will Call.

We walked past a long bar with many stools down a few steps into a back room with many tables. Only a few of them were occupied. The server said we could sit anywhere, bar-style. After some thought we chose a small table near the stairs in a slightly elevated section. On the wall near us was a poster surrounded by lights like a marquee. The poster listed the acts that were "coming soon" such as Pete Yorn and Atlas Genius. They played loud rock music on the speakers but we could hear Lush practicing in the main room of the venue. Right away the server gave us our door passes that doubled as coasters. They were cards in plastic. On one side it had a picture of the Foo Fighters with "Foo Fighters Nov 2014" above it in small letters and "Group 2" below it in large letters. On the back it gave the instructions for using the passes: "At door time, listen for your group number. You will turn in your pass to enter the lobby, and will proceed to ticketing. Your entry pass itself is not a ticket to the show. One pass per person. Any individual without a pass will be asked to get back in line on First Avenue. Thanks in advance for your cooperation."

The menu for Kern's Music Shop was in a plastic stand on our table. It was just two sections on one page. The first section, Small Plates listed six items that cost $4-$9. The second section, Large Plates listed eight items nearly all of which came with cheese. They cost $9-$13 each. The choices were fairly standard: salads, sandwiches, and burgers. I think the server said they served Coke products. We just got water to drink. Near us was a large dispenser of chilled water. I ordered the Edamame from the Small Plates section but the server said they were out of it. Perhaps Lush ordered the last of it. They did release their recent EP on their own label Edamame. We placed our orders and they came fairly quickly. My wife got the grilled cheese that was filled with three kinds of cheese: Havarti, mozzarella, and Gruyere. The grilled sourdough bread also contained sliced tomato and basil. She enjoyed her sandwich along with the house-made potato chips that came with it.

I got two small plates. One was the mezze plate: hummus with slices of cucumber and celery, and some baby carrots. There were also many triangular slices of pita bread that tasted good since they were toasted. The hummus was just OK, a bit cold. But there was a lot of it. I think the description of the item said it came with olive tapenade, but I don't remember receiving any. My other "small plate" was actually quite a large basket of French fries that came with small containers of ketchup and garlic aioli mayo. They were fairly basic fries, large and thick that looked like they were made from frozen rather than cut from fresh potatoes. But they were good and crispy, not cool and stale. I had them with the aioli and some of my hummus. I had finished most of them by the time they cooled down. As we ate I noticed a poster near the water dispenser for a Bumbershoot lineup announcement party on April 25 billed as "Bumbershoot Bingo."

By 6:45 p.m. all the tables in Kerns Music Shop were filled and the other room with the bar was quite full. The others were our age and older and mostly Caucasian, though we later saw a few Asians and African Americans. At around 7:15 an employee walked through the bar and dining room calling out Group 2. We walked to the end of the bar near the street entrance. There were many people in there with numbers for later groups. An employee took our group passes and another did a bag check. At this point my wife looked outside and saw a long queue of people along First Avenue. An employee checked our IDs and stamped our right wrist with ink that was only visible under a special flashlight. At a counter where they were checking tickets, we told them that we were Will Call. The employee just asked to see my wife's ID and let us in. We never got any ticket or stubs, but we got in early.

We found ourselves in a large room with a circular floor front of the stage. Surrounding the floor on either side were curved walls enclosing slightly elevated areas with seating and bars where they sold drinks. Behind them were further elevated bars. We walked to the left behind the lower wall and found a couple of seats facing the stage from the left. Another concertgoer asked if we might move over one seat because he was trying to save four. We reluctantly moved over one. We sat facing a small counter and over a wall that was higher than the heads of most people standing on the floor in front of us. In many ways it was ideally situated, the only drawback was that it was facing the stage mostly from the side. We sat down at 7:25 p.m. and remained there for the rest of the concert. Someone sat next to us on the left. He was attending the concert by himself, though he later seemed to acquaint himself with someone to whom he often left his seat. There was a merch table on the left just inside the main room from which he bought what looked like a vinyl version of Lush's latest EP. He said he paid $20. He sometimes had to leave his seat and we would save it for him, though not after Lush took the stage.

My wife checked out the merch and didn't find anything she wanted. All the concert tour T-shirts had the old Portland and San Francisco dates that had since been rescheduled. The stage had the letters LU above the letters SH. It was white letters on a black circle but it would change color when different colored lights shone on it. There were two drum kits on stage, one in the back and the other up front presumably for the opening act. The stage was high enough that we could see it very well. There were three microphones on stands in front with a small keyboard at each of the side ones. The venue was dark inside with red lights. The ceiling above the main floor was circular, lit in red and with a disco ball in the middle. On the side where we sat, the left, and further down from the row of seats was an old school photo booth. The seats were probably about half full when we arrived in the venue. It would fill up and look almost completely full by the time Lush took the stage. We noticed some of the T-shirts worn by others such as Ride, Depeche Mode, Lou Reed, and Einstürzende Neubaten. My wife had on her Elastica T-shirt.

At 8:03 p.m., the lights dimmed, the recorded music stopped and the Young Evils took the stage. They consisted of a drummer at the closer kit, a bass player, a lead singer, and two guitarists on either side. The singer wore a white coat and had a slightly lower voice. She sounded a bit like Natalie Merchant. The Young Evils performed a couple of songs with the second one being slightly faster with the singer clapping along. After they finished she said, "Hi everybody. We're the Young Evils. We'll try to make this short and sweet." For the next song the guitarist played the keyboards on either side of the stage. They actually sounded more like sound machines. They played a couple more songs one slower and soulful and the other fast and more guitar driven, though with a little bit of keyboard. The singer then said, "Thank you everybody. We're just as excited to see Lush. We just have a couple more." The next song was rhythmic and soulful. By this time the floor was very crowded with people standing. The following song began with feedback. It was faster than the previous one and more rocking. Both the singer and one of the guitarists sang lead. They finished, the singer said "Thank you so much," and they left the stage at 8:34 p.m.

The crew removed the Young Evils's equipment including their drum kit leaving only Lush's kit. Theirs was slightly elevated and a bit further back from where the Young Evils had theirs. I think the crew kept the three microphones in place but removed the keyboards. Over the speaker they played recorded music including "A Forest" by The Cure and what sounded like the cover of a Joy Division song that had the lyric "We lost control again." By 8:58 the floor and the bar areas behind us were very crowded.

At 9:14 p.m., the recorded music seemed to stop. Some notes played along with drums. Smoke filled the stage and blue lights shone down upon it. The house lights dimmed a bit (I think) and Lush walked out onto the stage. On drums sat Justin Welch, the newest band member who used to drum for Elastic. On the right side in front stool Phil King on bass. On the left was Emma Anderson on lead guitar. And in the middle stood Miki Berenyi on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. All four of them were dressed in black. Emma wore a black skirt and black jacket. Miki wore a black top, long black shorts, and black nylons. She said, "Hello, everybody! You have no idea." I think she was referring to their visa problems that caused them to postpone all the U.S. shows before this one. I think she then said something like, "This is our first time here in 20 years." They then performed their song "De-Luxe" with Miki's high vocals and Justin's loud drums. White lights shone behind them.

After they finished I think Miki switched to a different electric guitar. She and Emma would often switch guitars between songs with a crew member bringing them out. Neither Miki nor Emma ever switched to an acoustic guitar for any of the songs. The next song was louder and faster accompanied by red and orange lights. We couldn't identify the song at first. It included a lyric that sounded like "burning my tongue." We later learned that the song was "Breeze." Their next song began with loud guitars. We thought it sounded like their song "Kiss Chase" and we later confirmed that. Both Miki and Emma sang at times. Their next song was also loud and we knew it was "Hypocrite" accompanied by blue flashing lights. After they finished someone in the audience yelled "We love you" and they performed "Lovelife," one of their more atmospheric "shoegazer" songs. They followed it with "Thoughtforms" that's also atmospheric and was accompanied by green light on smoke behind them. Miki switched guitars before the next one that we could not identify right away. It began slowly with tingling that continued throughout the song. Miki sang in a very high voice lyrics that sounded like "She follows far away." We later learned that the song was "Light from a Dead Star."

The next song began with drums and bass soon joined by the guitars. It was "Undertow" that featured Miki singing high, a loud and long guitar solo from Emma, Emma echoing Miki's singing at one point and plenty of atmospheric sound. When they finished, Miki said, "I want to say thank you to the support band." The next song began with loud bass and drums and purple lights shining on them. It was "Lit Up" where Miki's vocals sounded soft despite it being a loud song. After they finished, she asked, "Have you seen us before?" After many cheered and raised their hands, she said, "You're totally giving away your age." Their next song was loud and fast. It was "Etheriel," a name that looks to me like it came from Tolkien's Middle Earth. Reddish purple light shone on stage and Phil King played bass loudly. Their next song began slowly but soon got louder. It was "Scarlet" that combined loud music with Miki's high angelic vocals.

We both knew the next song because we had played it before on piano and guitar. "For Love" is a quieter, midtempo song that seems to tell a story. Miki said that the next song was a new one. It was "Out of Control," the lead single off their new EP. I noticed that Miki tended to sway or twist from side to side as she played while Emma kept fairly still. Before the next song, Emma warned, "If you're going to chat someone up tonight, beware." They then launched right into "Ladykillers," their aggressive pop song that also tells a story. I noticed Emma said the parts "You get the picture" and "Here comes the next one." Multicolored lights shone on stage. They changed to blue for the next song that began quickly and featured both Miki and Emma on vocals. We couldn't identify it when we heard it and later learned that it was "Downer." Miki said that the next song would be their last. "Thank you so much. It's been a stressful two weeks." They then performed "Sweetness and Light," a soulful, atmospheric song accompanied by colorful kaleidoscopes of lights shining on the Lush logo behind the stage. Miki sang in a high voice and Emma had a long guitar solo. They finished at 10:16 p.m. and left the stage to loud applause.

The cheering, stomping, and clapping from the crowd were relentless. Lush returned to the stage at 10:19 p.m. Miki teased, "You knew we would come back." They started playing a song with loud bass. It sounded like a shoegazer song with atmospheric guitar. We later learned that it was "Stray." We knew the next song, "Desire Lines" that began slowly with a loud beat. Blue lights shone on stage and smoke rose behind it. Emma played a loud guitar solo. The next song began loudly. Miki sang in a high voice. We later learned that the song was "Leaves Me Cold." After they finished Miki said "Thank you so much" and they left the stage at 10:33 p.m. But the cheering was relentless. Even though the house lights and recorded music came back on, only a few people left. Most stayed and made noise. We could see Emma and Miki through a door to the right of the stage. The crowd would not quiet down and Lush returned to the stage again at 10:35. Miki said, "Thank you so much" and they performed what would actually be their last song, "Monochrome," a slower and quieter song, but still soulful. After the finished Miki said "Thank you so much. I'm tearing up." Lush then left the stage for the final time at 10:40 p.m.

The house lights again turned on and the recorded music played. We followed the crowd slowly out of the venue. Near the door on the side walls was a hot dog stand. We walked south to Union, crossed 1^st Avenue, and walked down the stairs to Western Avenue. We crossed Western and reached our car at 10:50 p.m. We then drove south on Western, turned right onto Spring Street, climbed the hill in minimal traffic and made the light right onto the I-5 south at the 5-way intersection. Again, there wasn't much traffic. Getting home was never "Out of Control," though the traffic lights were often "Scarlet." We didn't "Stray" and arrived home at 11:40 p.m.

Europe Live at the Hard Rock Live

We saw the band Europe perform live at the Hard Rock Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, January 23, 2016. We flew to Las Vegas from Seatac the day before, and we were staying at the Montel Carlo hotel. We met up with my in-laws the evening before, had dinner at Yusho Asian Grill, and rode the High Roller. Earlier in the day on January 23 we had lunch at Bobby's Burger Palace. I've written about my personal history with Europe in many previous reviews. I had actually seen them live nearly eight years before, but that was via webcast. They played an "almost acoustic" set from the venue Nalen in Sweden. Since then they've released the albums "Last Look at Eden" in 2009, "Bag of Bones" in 2012, and most recently "War of Kings" in 2015.

In early December 2015, my wife learned online about a recent GEICO commercial in which Europe participated. She showed it to me and I thought it was very clever and funny. I looked at their Facebook page and website to learn more about the video. They do have a "making of" video on Youtube. I didn't find out much more about it on their pages but from their website I learned that they planned a longer US tour. Early in 2015 they had played in IN, IL, OH, NY, MD, and CT. This latest tour for early 2016 included many stops in the U.S. Southwest and South. But they did not plan to come to the Northwest at all. Before 2015, they had not toured the U.S. in at least 10 years. I figured this tour might be our only chance to see them live and in person at a fairly reasonable price.

We did some research and learned that they planned to perform at the Hard Rock Live in Las Vegas. We initially thought this venue was at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, but their website did not show them on the schedule. We eventually figured out that there was a Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas that was separate from the Hard Rock Hotel. While the Hard Rock Hotel is off the Strip, the Café is on the Strip near the MGM Grand Hotel, the MGM Showcase, and across the street from the Monte Carlo. We ordered tickets from the Hard Rock Café that sold them through TicketWeb. They cost $30.00 each plus $6.50 in fees. Our total cost for both tickets was $73.00. Tickets cost $35 each on the day of concert. After receiving the tickets in the mail less than two weeks later we made airline reservations. Even though we used 40,000 frequent flyer miles, we still had to pay $341. 00 for two seats on the Alaska Airlines flights. We planned to travel to Las Vegas over a weekend, a peak time to go there. After booking our air travel we needed to book our hotel stay. We decided to stay at the Monte Carlo because it was less expensive than the MGM Grand and right across the street from the Hard Rock Live. Though the base room rate at the Monte Carlo seemed reasonable, the total price greatly increased with the taxes and resort fee to as much at the airfare. We had until January 19 to cancel our hotel stay, but we never needed to.

We made all our arrangements less than two months before the event. By the late afternoon of Saturday, January 23, our reason for being there was only a few hours away. We had to figure out when to head on over to the Hard Rock Live. Their website recommended arriving one hour prior to the performance to allow time for security checks. That afternoon, I learned from Europe's Facebook page that their opening act, Gabbie Rae, would start performing at 8 pm and Europe would start at 9:10 pm. Our tickets said that the doors opened at 7:00 pm and didn't say anything about an opening act. I looked up Gabbie Rae online and learned that she was a 17-year-old rock singer whose inspirations include Ronnie James Dio and Steve Perry.

I think it was after 5 pm when we went down to the hotel lobby and walked to the food court close to the hotel elevators and the casino. The food court had a Starbucks, McDonald's, Manchu Wok, Rubios, Sbarro, Subway, and Original Chicken Tender. The last one sounded the most interesting. When we walked by them earlier in the day we noticed that they also served hot dogs made by Nathan's and Pepsi products. We placed our orders at the counter and they gave me a black and red plastic pager. A few minutes after we found a table, the pager started to buzz and light up. I returned to the counter to get our food trays. My wife got the regular-size chili dog with sauerkraut while I got the foot-long all-beef hot dog with sauerkraut along with a Sierra Mist. The hot dog was good but it was a lot of food. I had to share some with my wife. We finished our dinner a bit earlier than we thought we would and returned to our room to rest a bit more.

Before 6:30 pm we again rode the elevator down to the lobby. But this time it was getting dark outside. We walked through the casino to the main entry/ exit, exited onto the Boulevard plaza and walked sound along the fenced sidewalk to the crosswalk across The Strip. We noticed that the Blvd Creamery was now open. We crossed Las Vegas Blvd when the crosswalk allowed, entered the Hard Rock Café gift and souvenir shop and took the escalator up to the Café level. The Café hosts said to queue up at the stairs leading up to the Hard Rock Live on the third level. We did so at 6:37 pm at the bottom of the stairs. We could see about 15-20 people in front of us on two flights of stairs leading up to the third level. They mostly looked older than us. A few may have been younger. Most wore black and I saw one or two who looked like they were wearing corsets. We started at the bottom of the stairs near some photos of Elvis and some Elvis memorabilia. Some employees announced that if we had "Meet and Greet" tickets, then we could go to the front of the queue or take the elevator up to the third floor. I didn't see anyone take them up on this offer.

As we waited the queue consolidated every 10 minutes or so and we climbed up the stairs. On a TV on the second floor they showed rock music videos such as "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey that looked like a generic video not showing the band, "Superfreak" by Rick James, "Love Shack" by the B-52's and "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson. People queued up behind us enough to fill the stairs and start to snake down the hallway on the second floor. As the queue consolidated we climbed to a point where we could no longer see the TV showing music videos. However, we could see more of the third floor. It looked like the stairs led up to a door with a blue sign above it. The sign said, "The One Man Show."

At 7:30 pm, the queue started moving for reals. We were soon at the top of the stairs where employees checked our ID's and put blue paper Hard Rock Café bands around our wrists. Other employees then checked my wife's purse. Still others scanned our tickets and we officially entered Hard Rock Live. We noticed the Rock memorabilia such as a Brian May Guitar. We passed a merch table, turned right though a doorway, and entered the venue proper. It had a large bar on one side with a few stools. The stage was on the opposite side. We would have to stand to see it well. My wife found some space just two rows of standing people from the stage where people were already gathering. While she held our places, I walked over to the merch table. There was an attendant in the restroom selling candy and cosmetics. At the merch table they sold a t-shirt for Gabbie Rae and several Europe t-shirts including one with the "War of Kings" album cover. I got one with "The Final Countdown" album cover on the front for $30. On the back were the words "The Final Countdown 30^th Anniversary Tour." I also got a set of four pieces of flare for $10. They also sold CD singles for Europe's song "Days of Rock and Roll" from "War of Kings." They were auctioning off a black guitar signed by all five members of Europe.

I returned to where my wife stood two rows of people from the stage. We could see it extremely well. It was the first time in a very long time that I had stood so close. One stage were three or four microphone stands in front, one drum kit in front and one behind it. The one in front had "Gabbie Rae GT" on the bass drum. I think the one behind was just white. To the left and right were a couple of large Blackstar brand amps, the same brand of amp as the one my wife recently got for her guitars and our digital piano. We weren't sure if they would be used by Europe because their song "Sucker" from "Start from the Dark" mentions Marshall amps. On one of the amps to the left someone had placed a Hard Rock Café teddy bear. I noticed a bit more of the Rock memorabilia along the glass wall between the main venue and the side corridor where they had placed the merch table. In a case was jacket worn by Sex Pistol Sid Vicious. The venue filled up very slowly. It didn't seem very large, maybe the around the same size as the House of Blues Anaheim. Someone near us said they had also seen their show the night before in Los Angeles. I guess Europe has even bigger fans than I.

At 8:00 pm exactly the recorded music stopped and four musicians took the stage: a drummer at the nearer kit, a bass player, a guitarist on the right, and another guitarist on the left. They played the opening notes of "Hotel California" by The Eagles followed by the rockin' beginning of "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie. Both Bowie and Glenn Frey of The Eagles had passed away within the past couple of weeks. They then started playing "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead whose frontman, Lemmy, also passed away within the past several weeks. As they played someone walked out to join them, a small young woman with long black hair and bangs. She wore a black t-shirt, a silver cross around her neck, a black leather jacket, and black leather pants. She was Gabbie Rae. I think she just sang a chorus of "Ace of Spades" and then launched into one of their own songs, a loud one with lyrics "don't tread on me" and "can't stop me now." After they finished, Rae said, "Hello, Las Vegas!" Their next song had loud bass and fast singing. I think it included the lyric "So damn deadly." After the song, Rae said, "Thank you! How are you feeling? My name is Gabbie Rae."

Rae then said, "Let's slow it down so I can catch my breath." Their next song did begin more quietly than the others, but it soon got louder and faster. I think she said it was called "Shine Down." When they finished, Rae said it was "brand new music." She then introduced the band: the drummer, bass player who wore a black hat and sunglasses, the guitarist on the right who had long, thick, "luscious locks" of black hair and the guitarist on the left who wore glasses. Rae then said, "I'm gonna ditch this jacket." She told a story about how she literally could not take the jacket off a few days before at the Anaheim show at The Grove. But this time she took it off easily and tossed it to a crewmember to the left. She then said she was going to sing something we all knew and loved and with her band performed "Barracuda" by Heart. During the fast part, Tony, the guitarist with luscious locks tossed his hair wildly. They finished and performed one of their original songs. At the end someone in the crowd yelled something like "You're beautiful!" Rae answered, "Keep up with the compliments. I need them."

She introduced the next song as "My Undoing." It began quietly but got very loud for the choruses. Different colored lights shone on stage and moved. After they finished Rae said something like, "Those of you who know me know that Ronnie James Dio is my number one favorite." They then performed a couple of Dio songs both loud and rockin' though I didn't recognize them. At times Rae yelled out, "Let's see 'em!" and most of us held up our hands in the "devil horns" symbol. At one point the guitarist Tony tossed out some black guitar picks. I was able to locate one on the floor. It had the logo for "Sinister Guitar Picks" that was also on Tony's t-shirt. While he played an extended guitar solo, Rae left the stage and returned. After they finished the second of the two songs, Rae shouted, "We love you, Ronnie!" She then said something like, "Here's the dealio: I want to take a picture with all of you." She and the band then turned around and had a crew member take a picture with us, the audience, in the background. She then said, "This is our last song. It's called 'Scream.'" She said that afterward she would be at the merch table and to stop by to meet her. They played a loud and fast song. At one point Rae urged, "Scream, Las Vegas!" She and the band finished the song and left the stage to loud applause and cheering at 8:42 pm.

The crew and Rae's band removed their equipment. After they removed their Blackstar amps, we saw a set of at least six Marshall amps set up to the right of the stage. We also noticed two or three keyboards set up to the left of the drum kit. On one of them in front of the keys was a small white king chess piece that I believe inspired the album title and cover for Europe's latest album "War of Kings." In the middle front of the stage they set up a microphone on a white metal stand. They removed the front drum kit. The back one was on a slightly elevated platform. On the platform they placed a couple of bottles of water. The crew tested several guitars including an acoustic guitar and what looked like either a light pink or yellow guitar. All the while recorded music played over the venue's speakers. The songs included "Burnin' for You" and "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, "Home Sweet Home" by Mötley Crüe, "Holy Diver" by Dio, and "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy. I looked behind me and saw that the floor looked full or nearly full. I don't know if the concert was sold out. I think they were still selling tickets a few days before when I checked online.

At 9:12 pm, the recorded music stopped and the lights went dim. I heard the music for "Requiem," the prelude to the first song on Europe's latest album, the title track. To loud cheering the band took their places on stage and performed "War of Kings." At the drum kit sat Ian Haugland in shorts, T-shirt, and sunglasses. To his right (our left) stood Mic Michaeli at the three keyboards dressed all in black including black hat and sunglasses. To his right (our left) closer to the front of the stage stood John Levén on bass. Far to his left (our right) on the opposite side of the stage stood John Norum, the lone Norwegian in a Swedish band, playing the light yellow (or pink) guitar. Both Johns wore all black: pants, jacket and shirt as did the one in between them at the microphone with the white metal stand: lead singer Joey Tempest. But he did not stand still. He rocked the stand between his hands. Sometimes he spun it all the way around. Often he lifted it up so that it was horizontal while still singing. During other songs he removed the microphone from the stand, tossed it high in the air and always caught it. He ended the first song by holding the microphone in the stand out over us in the crowd.

As they performed smoked billowed behind them. The lights shone rainbows of many colors, not just the spectrum. They all looked very tall. After their first song they got even louder and a lot faster to perform "Hole in My Pocket." Norum switched to the black V-neck guitar for this one. After their first two very recent songs they went back many years for the third one, "Superstitious" from "Out of this World," my favorite Europe album as a teenager. The song is more rockin' live. Toward the end, they diverted a bit and Tempest sang a few lines of "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake. I could have done without that and was glad they got back to "Superstitious:" "Keep on walking that road and I'll follow . . ." After they finished the song, Joey Tempest said, "Thank you very much! Holy underwear! We're gonna do something from 'Wings of Tomorrow.' We started playing this recently and can't stop. This is called, 'Wasted Time.'" They then played that loud, fast and over 30-year-old song that fit right in with the rockin' ones from their latest album.

They jumped ahead 25 years for the next song that also had its own prelude, the title track to "Last Look at Eden." At one point they all seemed to freeze before continuing their kinetic movement. Then they went back 23 years to perform the ballad "Carrie" from "The Final Countdown." It was their biggest U.S. hit so far but I never liked it was much as their others. I spent the song taking photos of them. Joey got the crowd to sing the chorus: "Carrie! Carrie! Things they change, my friend." Lights gently spun over them. They finished and Joey said, "(That was) Beautiful, Vegas! Thank you so much. We have not played Vegas as a band before . . . This next one is our favorite from 'War of Kings.' We hope you dig it. It's called 'The Second Day.'" Well, I already did. The song changes tempo from reflective to very loud and rockin'. The lights shone in blue and green, like their own "Hawkitecture" going on.

They got even louder and faster for the next one. As they played bright lights flickered on and off for a strobe effect. The song was "Firebox" from "Bag of Bones." After they finished, everyone left the stage except for Mic and Joey. I think Mic played a musical interlude while Joey picked up an acoustic guitar. It got quiet and Joey said, "Last night we played in L.A. There was a band who spent a lot of time there: The Eagles." He said something about Glenn Frey passing away and then started singing and playing "Desperado" with the acoustic guitar while Mic accompanied on keyboard. His vocals sounded eerily like those of the original Eagles version. They only went through the first one or two vocals and choruses. They didn't get to the part "Do your feet get cold in the wintertime," but it was still a very nice tribute. Joey then temporarily left the stage. Mic played a solo on keyboard and then started playing a song that I never thought I would hear at this concert. The rest of the band quickly returned and they performed "Sign of the Times." I was shocked and so happy at the same time. This is a deeper track from "Out of this World:" rockin' and keyboard-heavy, and melodically catchy. Joey sang the lyrics a little bit differently: "stand and fight" rather than "hold on tight" but it was still amazing. At one point Joey reached out and shook the hand of the person in front of me.

Joey left the stage after "Sign of the Times." The others played what sounded like "Vasastan," the bonus instrumental on "War of Kings" featuring John Norum on guitar while Joey stood off to the side of the stage. He returned when they finished and they performed "Girl from Lebanon," a deeper rockin' track from their album "Prisoners in Paradise." I think they sang this song to bring attention to the Middle East. Joey then picked up an electric guitar. He strummed a chord and sang, "Rock me till I hit that floor." He strummed another chord and sang, "Rock me till I take no more." The others joined and the song got much louder and faster. It was "Ready or Not" from "Out of this World." At the end, Joey held the guitar out to the crowd and motioned for them to play. He put down the guitar, picked up a bottle of water, and drank it all straight. He asked, "Do you want something heavy? Get ready for the onslaught." They then performed the loud and rockin' "Nothin' to You," a song with attitude from "War of Kings." They played very loudly. Green and red lights shone and Mic's keyboard was featured during the chorus.

After the song everyone left the stage except Ian. I heard a short sample of the Monty Python song "Sit on My Face." Ian then played aloud drum solo. He played faster and faster. The lights blinked quickly like a strobe. After he finished, Joey announced "Ian Haugland!" to loud applause. The others returned to the stage and Joey said, "Here's another one from 'Out of this World.'" It was the loud "Let the Good Times Rock." I think during this song they had us all clap above our heads. They followed it with another "Rock" song, "Rock the Night" from "The Final Countdown." I figured they would do this song because the original video was filmed in a Hard Rock Café. Towards the end, Joey said something like, "I bet you can be louder than L.A., Las Vegas." He had us do some repeating back and forth. He sang, "Rock rock rock rock rock the night" and we repeated. At the end he said, "Yes, beautiful, Vegas." He then said, "We're going to do another new one." He again picked up an electric guitar and they launched right into "Days of Rock 'n' Roll" from "War of Kings," another fun one to complete their "Rock Block" of songs. The lights danced as they played. Joey again held the guitar out for the crowd to play. When they finished, he said, "Make sure you make some noise, Las Vegas," and the band left the stage to loud applause and cheering at 10:37 pm.

We cheered, clapped, and stomped. The noise soon morphed into a chant of "Eur-ope! Eur-ope! Eur-ope!" It seemed like a while, but the band returned just two minutes later at 10:39 pm. The first few notes gave the song away. I think they were a recording but the band soon took their places and Mic played them live. It was the keyboard riff of "The Final Countdown." The others soon joined in. Their live performance seemed more rockin' and energetic than the original recording but I'm not complaining. These days they are more of a loud hard rock band than a polished hair band. Joey swung his mike stand around some more, held it horizontal, and may have even held it out to the crowd. The crowd such along so loudly that I could barely hear Joey. After they finished, everyone went wild. John Norum threw a handful of guitar picks into the crowd. Joey then said something like, "Thank you. Hope to see you again soon" and then left the stage with the band at 10:45 pm. We kept making noise but the recorded music turning back on confirmed that there would be no more encores. They turned on the lights and I saw a purple-grey Europe guitar pick in front of me. I knelt down, reached forward and picked it up.

We then started to leave. The crowd had already thinned considerably. We entered the side room with the merch table and saw Gabbie Rae there. Many people complimented her as she walked by. She walked through a door into what looked like a rest area for the performers and crew. We walked down the stairs to the restaurant level and found another staircase down to the giftshop level. We saw that they sold the Hard Rock Café teddy bears there. We exited the Hard Rock and crossed Las Vegas Blvd. The Blvd Creamery was now closed but the Monte Carlo casino was in full swing. We saw a group of young adults all dressed up, the women wearing "grow up so fast" shoes. We reached our room at 11 pm.

We didn't sleep in very late the next day. The weather was clear and sunny with blue sky. We packed our luggage, I checked out of our room via the TV and we took the elevator down to the lobby for the last time. I put the keycards in the drop box near the elevator. We went out through the main entrance. It wasn't long before my in-laws picked us up. Going east on Rue de Monte Carlo, they had to turn right on Las Vegas Blvd. I think they found a place to do a U-turn and go north. There was still a lot of traffic but at least the streets weren't blocked off like they were on Friday night. We passed the Planet Hollywood where they would see Jennifer Lopez perform later in the week, Paris Las Vegas, Bellagio, Bally's, the Cromwell, Caesar's Palace, the Flamingo, the Linq with the High Roller, Harrah's, the Venetian and the Palacio, Treasure Island, the Wynn and Encore. Soon after crossing Clark Road we had to make a quick right onto Cathedral Way. We parked at Guardian Angel Cathedral and attended the 11 am service. We noticed that one of their stained glass windows depicted some Las Vegas buildings including the Stratosphere tower. At the beginning we introduced ourselves to the person sitting behind us. He was from San Diego and thought we had come a long way from Tacoma. During the service we learned that "Joey" was still the bishop of Las Vegas.

After the service my in-laws wanted to take us to lunch at the Italian restaurant at the Westgate, the former location of the Las Vegas Hilton. But we wanted to go somewhere else. They drove us down several streets including Karen Ave, Joe Brown Road, and Swenson Street. At Flamingo Road and Paradise Road, we noticed that the hotel/ casino was no longer Terrible's but Silver 7's. We soon reached our destination at Paradise Road and Harmon Ave: Hofbräuhaus. We had eaten there back in April 2011, but that was during the day on a weekday. It was very different on this Sunday: much more crowded, though not completely full. They had changed the décor a bit. Pretzels no longer hung from the walls. Their menu was the same but it no longer said, "First, the radish needs plenty of salt so he can cry" for the Bayerischer Raditeller. I ordered the Ofenfrischer Leberkäs this time only it didn't come on bread with fries but with tangy potato salad and sweet mustard. It was still very delicious, though. My wife got the currywurst that had a couple of sausages cut to look like octopi. We also ordered the Bayerischer Raditeller on which they sprinkled plenty of salt.

The biggest difference between our last lunch at Hofbräuhaus and this one was that this time there was live entertainment. One person played trumpet and seamlessly switched to melodica and saxophone. He played both traditional songs and modern ones such as "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers. He played the "Star Wars Theme" on the large alphorn. He even played the alphorn pointing up at the ceiling. He did this trick where he swung a full mug of beer all the way around without any spilling out. He also facilitated a beer-guzzling contest. When I tipped him he told me to ring the cowbell for luck. Something the other servers did was paddle people on the rear end, though only those who volunteered. It was a fun lunch. We noticed that Hofbräuhaus was very close to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. They also have a giant guitar in front but theirs is left-handed rather than right-handed like the one on The Strip.

We still had some time after lunch before we had to go to the airport. My in-laws drove us south and west on several side streets. We soon turned left to go south on Las Vegas Blvd, passed Russell Road and turned left into our destination, the parking lot for the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. There was a queue of people waiting to take pictures under the sign, but plenty of places to take photos with the sign in the background. We took a few. The weather was windy and chilly but still sunny and clear, our nicest day of the trip. After taking a photo my in-laws drove us south to the 215 freeway east. They exited at the sign for the airport, took the tunnel to the Departures lane, and dropped us off at 2:50 pm.

I think our departure gate was E15. The security queue was very long and wound around in many different directions, kind of like a Disneyland queue. On TV's mounted from the ceiling they showed humorous demonstrations of what not to bring through security such as a couple of well-dressed gangster-types not being allowed to bring weapons. We had to walk all the way to the end of the terminal to get to our gate. Our flight started boarding at 4:30 pm and we reached our seats at 4:47 pm. They weren't all the way in the back like they were for the flight to Las Vegas. The pilot said our flight would take two hours and ten minutes, about twenty minutes shorter than it said on the itinerary. The plane was again a 737-900. We took off at 5:10 pm and landed at 7:24 pm. This flight didn't have as much turbulence as the flight to Vegas two days earlier.

I think our flight deplaned into Concourse C meaning we didn't have to take a tram from a satellite terminal. We got dinner from Ivar's in the main terminal. My wife got a bowl of red clam chowder and I got the "super clam:" several large and think claim strips with chips. After dinner we caught the 574 Sound Transit express bus back to Tacoma, the final leg of my "bucket list" trip. This trip had come up with fairly short notice whether we were "Ready or Not." We accomplished my goal on "The Second Day" of it. This could be our "Last Look at" Vegas for a while, but I'll try not to be "Superstitious."

La Luz Live at Neumos

We saw the band La Luz perform live at Neumos in Seattle on Wednesday, December 30, 2015. We first heard about them very recently. Within the past couple of months my wife ordered the current issue of The Big Takeover magazine, issue number 77 that had the band Ride on the cover and articles about Dar Williams and Dr. Demento. La Luz are a surf-rock band from Seattle. My wife read on online that they recorded their latest album in San Dimas. She then learned that they were playing two shows at Neumos: an all-ages show on December 30 and a 21+ show on December 31. We decided to attend the first show. We downloaded all their recorded music: their early EP's "Brainwash" and "Damp Face" and their albums "It's Alive" and "Weirdo Shine." We also watched a few of their videos on Youtube. The one for "What Good Am I" shows them riding the Seattle Great Wheel that we call the "Seattle Eye" while performing the song acoustically. The one for "You Disappear" shows some old footage of the Filipino stick dance tinikling. Their songs are short with heavy surf-rock sound, partially inspired by The Ventures. Some songs are instrumentals. By listening to them over and over for about a week we learned most of them.

We had been to Neumos just once before when we saw Foxy Shazam in August 2014. We bought the tickets to La Luz less than one week before their show. Rather than print them as we had for Foxy Shazam, for La Luz we opted to pick them up Will Call thereby avoiding the $1 printing fee. Each ticket cost $15 and with the $5.75 service fee per ticket the total for two was $41.50. Just as with Foxy we decided to have dinner at the Other Coast Café before the La Luz show. The doors opened at 8 pm and they had two opening acts: Seattle bands Gazebos and Sick Sad World.

The weather was clear and sunny on December 30 but very cold in the high 30's. We left home at 5:20 pm. Traffic wasn't too band driving north out of Tacoma on the I-5. It looked slower going south. As we neared downtown Seattle we thought we could see the lights for the Seattle Eye. The lighted speed signs slowed us down and at exit 163 traffic slowed greatly. I think it picked up a bit after the I-90 interchange. We took exit 166 and turned right onto E. Olive Way. After crossing Melrose Avenue E we turned right on to Bellevue Avenue E. We crossed E. Pine St and turned left at E. Pike St. I think from there we drove a block or two east past the Other Coast Café and turned right onto Harvard Ave. We turned right again onto E. Union Street hoping to find parking on the street near the Knights of Columbus (K of C) building where we had parked for Foxy Shazam. But this time there were no open spaces near there. We drove a bit further west and turned right onto Minor, drove one block north and turned right onto Pine Street. After driving a couple of blocks we found a parking spot on the right near the intersection with Boylston. The curb was painted yellow close to the intersection but hardly painted at all west of that where several other cars were parked. We parked at 6:27 pm and paid through 8 pm when parking became free.

We had parked in front of the club "R Place" whose signs said it was a gay bar. From our spot we walked south along Boylston to Pike Street. We walked a block or two east to Harvard and crossed Pike Street at a light. We then walked a few doors west to Other Coast Café. They were open and had their heater on. It was nice to get out of the cold. From their drinks cooler I got a Thomas Kemper root beer and my wife got a Lemoncocco Bevairda Frescce Italiana that's made by Jones Soda. The cashier said they were out of baguettes so we ordered our sandwiches on sourdough. I think we sat at the same booth as on the evening when we saw Foxy Shazam or close to it. They played the usually hard rock over the speakers, though at one point they played a song in Spanish. On our table was a tent ad for $2 Happy Hour Montucky beers. A posted notice said they planned to close early on the next day, December 31. If we had gone to the La Luz show that day we wouldn't have been able to eat at Other Coast Café beforehand.

Though they had taken down my name when we ordered, they just brought our sandwiches to our table. My wife got a cold sandwich this time: the Captain: two large pieces of sourdough bread containing slices of chicken and Polish sausage, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, pesto, and oil and vinegar. My sandwich wasn't as impressive or substantial, but still very good. I got the Bullet on sourdough: bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, oil and vinegar. The bacon was some of the best I've had in a sandwich: very crispy and flavorful. We lingered at Other Coast Café for a while enjoying the warmth. At 7:40 pm we left the Café and walked the short block east to Neumos. There wasn't really a queue at their entrance on Pine Street, just some young people hanging around and smoking. We saw a very short queue at their entrance on Broadway and queued up there at 7:45 pm. There were only five people in front of us and there was no separate queue for Will Call. About seven or eight people queued up behind us. The others looked and sounded younger than us. From what I heard several were under 21. We noticed a schedule posted near the door that said, "Gazebos 9:00-9:30, Sick Sad World 9:45-10:30, La Luz 10:45. We had queued up next to the eatery affiliated with Neumos, Pike Street Fish Fry.

At 8:00 pm, the queue abruptly started moving. A window opened up near us and an employee asked if we needed to buy tickets. We said we needed to pick up Will Call tickets. She only asked for my name, checked my ID, and gave us two etix.com tickets. Not long after that we entered Neumos. A couple of other employees looked through my wife's purse and checked our tickets. Just inside were stairs to the upper level that takes up part of the left side of Neumos facing the stage. At the bottom of the stairs an employee sat at a small table. She asked if we were 21 and checked our ID's. I said I was much older than 21. She answered, "Not as old as me." She then stamped the insides of our right wrists with a black decorative stamp. Unlike last time, this stamp design did not get all smudged but I had a tough time taking a photo of it. We went up the stairs to the bar area. From windows up there we could see down into Pike Street Fish Fry. We made our way to the balcony that faces the stage from the left side.

Rather than stake out places along the rail as we did for Foxy Shazam, we sat down on the large "Mayan steps" along the wall. Initially we could see the floor and much of the stage. But our view got more blocked as people gathered along the rail. They gathered up quickly both on the floor and balcony. Someone left their phone next to me and later returned to get it. On the floor level they sold merch at a counter opposite the balcony. My wife checked it out and found that they did not sell any pieces of flare. Their T-shirts were from older tours. They had a light blue one with the picture from their first full album, "It's Alive." Above the picture was the word "Luzer," what a fan of La Luz is called. Recorded music played over the speakers including a couple of songs by Tears for Fears.

At 9:10 pm the recorded music stopped and the lights dimmed. I heard a young man's voice say, "What day is it? New Year's? There's only one song to start off." He and his band then performed "Aud Lang Syne." When I stood up on the lower step I could sometimes see his head. He had long blond hair and wore a baseball cap backwards. He and his band were Sick Sad World who had apparently traded time slots with Gazebos. They played original pop tunes with loud bass, guitar, and drums. According to some research I did before the concert, the lead singer/ guitarist/ frontman, Jake Jones, was born in Olympia. I think the first song they did was about spirituality. Jones said the next one was about graduating from college. It had the lyric "I used to have friends but now I'm alone." The floor and balcony had gotten more crowded. After the song, Jones said, "We're Sick Sad World. This new song could do with some dark purple." It was a slow and loud song with a long instrumental section. The next song was back to power pop and included the line "Now I'm barely hanging on." It ended with a lot of feedback. Jones said, "Thank you very much for coming," and that the next song was also new. It was a bit slower and quieter and included the line, "I wish I knew you well." As they played I saw a couple of people in the crowd who looked older than us. Other people had backpacks with bicycle helmets attached. The song had a slow guitar solo but soon got louder and faster.

Jones said, "Thanks, everybody. I'm Jake, that's Corey, …" and he introduced the other band members. They played one more song of medium speed and volume, thanked us one more time and ended their set at 9:34 pm. At 9:43 pm, the next band, Gazebos, came out on stage. Their lead singer was a woman with thick blond bushy hair who wore a red dress. Her voice was low and often sounded like screaming. Their first song was loud, fast, and accompanied by flashing blue lights. At the end, the singer, Shannon Perry, said, "We're Gazebos," and something else I didn't catch. Their next song was slower and more rhythmic with the lyrics "Watching the changing in our town," "Don't have the time to make things right," and "The future is bright." For the next song Perry seemed to talk to verses and sing the chorus. I think the song was "Sauna" whose video I had found on Youtube earlier. Perry said the name of the next song but I did not catch it. She paused and then said what it was about: "It's about … not forcing your will on top of people." It began with Perry screaming but then quieting down for the main verses and chorus.

After they finished the song Perry said that Elyssa Ball would be doing psychic readings. They played a loud and fast song that Perry said was a Suburban Moms cover. She said the next song was also a cover. It did sound more melodious. Perry then said, "I'm Shannon," and introduced the band. I couldn't see the rest of them. I think they were a four-piece. I think Perry then said, "It's like karaoke out here," and "This is our slow jam. Just kidding. We're not going to do that one. This one's about feminism." They then performed a loud and fast song with lots of background singing and some loud screaming from Perry. After they finished she said, "We just have one more song. Thank you for having us. I'm having an OK time." The song began a cappella with the lyrics, "Don't like boys who like me and the boys I like don't like me back." The instruments soon joined to make it a loud and fast song. I think during the song Perry said, "I can't see your faces." There was a loud drum solo and voice that sounded like screaming. At the end Perry said, "Thank you. La Luz is next." They finished at 10:19 pm.

Before Gazebos left the stage I saw someone on stage who looked like a guy wearing a shiny green dress and floppy hat. I had seen them standing on the balcony earlier. The crowd on the balcony thinned a bit. The crew on stage set up a drum kit. At 10:29 pm they set up a small table on stage with a shiny cloth. We saw Shana Cleveland, the lead singer / guitarist for La Luz, on stage. She wore a leopard print dress and grey coat. We also saw the bass player, Lena Simon, who wore light grey or blue shorts and a light-colored button-down shirt. They seemed to be setting things up. We also saw the drummer, Marian Li Pino, who wore blue jeans, a jean jacket, and a red hat. The person in the green dress helped a woman with a tablet computer at the small table on stage. They were setting it up to show what was on the table on the screen behind the stage. We also saw the keyboard/ organ player for La Luz, Alice Sandahl who wore all black.

At 10:35 pm, it looked like La Luz had taken their places on stage but they didn't start playing yet. Instead, a woman stood at the small table. She said something like, "Think about 2015 and imagine yourself in 2016." She was Elyssa Ball, the psychic Tarot card reader. She held her cards near the tablet camera such that they were projected on the screen behind the stage. We could not see the screen from where we sat. Ms. Ball shuffled through the cards and told the audience to shout "now" to pick one. The first card was for something like "what happened in 2015." It was the Emperor card for authority. The next card was for what the leave behind in 2015 and it was the Ace of Cups. Ms. Ball explained that it meant too much emotion. I didn't think the next card for 2016 was much better: the Hangman, though Ms. Ball tried to put a positive spin on it. She said something about getting inspired and not being in control of everything. The last card was for what to do in 2016 and it was the Temperance card. Ms. Ball recommended giving up substances and other addictive urges. She said she would be in the back to give personal readings and left the stage. The crew turned off the screen and removed the table.

At 9:47 pm began what we had been waiting for all evening: La Luz. They quickly took their places on stage and launched right into "You Disappear," the song from their latest album whose video showed tinikling. As they played, green and blue lights shone down on them. They sounded very similar to their recordings, not like Sick Sad World whose music had much louder bass and drums than what I heard on Bandcamp.com. Many people crowded along the rail and I couldn't see the stage when I sat down. When I stood up on the lower "Mayan step" I could sometimes see Shana's head and Lena playing bass. I was too tall to stand on the upper step but my wife could. Up there she could see more but not Alice at the organ who was on the left side of the stage. The next song, "Don't Want to be Anywhere," had fewer vocals. After they finished, Shana said, "Thank you all very much" and something like "It's a trip to play back home, soon to be our old home." We had heard that they planned to move to Los Angeles after New Year's. Marian said she was worked up because she had lost her drum bag. The next song, "Clear Night Sky" was appropriate because it was very clear outside that day and night.

After the song Alice played the classic notes da-da-da da-da-da-da. Shana or someone else said that they were playing in England on Halloween. At that show, someone went on stage in a monster costume and told some cheesy monster jokes. Alice then played those notes. The next song of their current Neumos show began more quietly and slowly than the first three. It was "I Can't Speak." The lights shone a twirling pattern on and behind the stage. More green and blue lights shone from above. Shana and Alice both played solos. The next song began with loud drumming by Marian soon joined by Alice on organ. It was "I'll Be True" that also had guitar and organ solos. I noticed that Shana moved around a lot while she played. They began the next song with feedback and loud guitar. It was an instrumental that may have been "TV Dream." They did sing some "oo-wa-oo." The next song began with Lena on bass who was soon joined by Marian on drums and then Shana on guitar. It was the loud and fast song "With Davey." Shana played a very sharp-sounding guitar solo. She said we could really headbang to the next song "so please join us." It was "You Can Never Know" that began with loud drumming. Its lyrics included that line "Take me to the other side." They sang the title rather late in the song.

After they finished, Shana described how they had practiced headbanging the day before and now they felt very sore. Marian said she had to put Tiger Balm on her neck. Shana said we could slow dance to the next song and asked to have the disco ball turned on. They obliged and the large disco ball in the middle of the ceiling spun around reflecting spinning lights all over the room. They performed "What Good Am I" that we associate more with the Seattle Eye than with slow dancing though this version wasn't acoustic but rather "plugged" like the album version with drums and organ. After Shana's guitar solo, Alice played an organ solo. Their next song was much faster and louder. "Big Big Blood" included plenty of background vocals of "oo-oo." The song ended suddenly. The next song, "Call me in the Day" is one I often mix up with "What Good Am I" at least for the first several notes. They began with bass and organ and featured loud solos from Shana and Alice. They had a little choreography when they moved apart and came back together. After they finished, Lena said that was the first La Luz song that she had heard. She had replaced their original bass player in 2014.

Shana thanked the guy working the merch table. She said they were trying to sell all their merch including merch from older tours. They had brought everything and wanted to clear it out before moving to California. They also thanked Neumos for letting them do an all-ages show. The next song began quietly and sounded hypnotic. It was the rather morbidly titled "Sleep till They Die." A red light pattern shone behind them and Shana played another loud guitar solo. After they finished, Shana called out, "Hey Tom, can we get the limbo stick?" Someone handed her a long thin stick. I think she asked for some volunteers to hold the stick horizontally on either side and others to "limbo" underneath. I couldn't see any of this because of so many people standing at the rail. I think I glimpsed them a few times including Shannon from Gazebos. She had also stood in front of us very briefly at some point during the concert. While they limboed, La Luz played a loud instrumental song, possibly "Damp Face" or "Phantom Feeling." After they finished, Tom took his limbo stick back.

Shana said, "We got two more songs." The first of these began with fast drumming. It was "Sure as Spring" for which Shana also played guitar quickly. Alice had an organ solo. Loud drumming started the next song that was soon joined by bass, guitar, and organ. It was "I Want to Be Alone (With You)" that also included a loud and fast guitar solo from Shana. After they finished, she said, "Thank you so much! Thank you to Sick Sad World and Gazebos." La Luz then left the stage at 11:42 pm. We all cheered loudly and chanted "La Luz! La Luz!" They returned just a minute later and started a song with loud guitar and drums. It was "Pink Slime" that consisted of more instrumental music than singing and included a long guitar solo. After the song, Shana said, "We're just going to do one more. Have a great new year and we'll see you in a little while." Their last song began slowly but soon sped up. It was "Brainwash" that had a fast guitar and organ solo. At the end Shana said, "Thank you, guys," and they left the stage at 11:49 pm.

The recorded music came back on, always a sign that there will be no more encores. We made our way downstairs and out the door to the sidewalk along Broadway. From where we walked to Pike Street and turned left (west). Just like after Foxy Shazam, they sold hot dogs from a cart in front of Neumos. We walked west on Pike and crossed to the north side. It looked like some of the clubs were still going strong. We walked north on Boylston and found our car at Pine Street at 11:59 pm. Loud music played from an upper floor at the "Gay Bar" club R Place. We drove to Boylston and turned right (south) and made another right (west) onto Pike Steet. We turned right onto Boren, crossed Pine and Olive, turned right onto Howell and soon made another right onto Yale than took us onto the I-5 south. We arrived home at 12:45 am on New Year's Eve. For the entire outing it was a "Clear Night Sky." We're glad we head about La Luz and saw them so soon because they've since moved and may not come back for a while. We know what good they are. If we hadn't seen them we could never know when we'd get another chance.