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"'Arena Rock' bands have the last laugh"--last week's newspaper column


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Just getting around to posting this on accounta I was out of town (what's more, the newspaper changed out my Mac while I was gone):

‘Arena rock’ bands have the last laugh

The Missus and I recently went to a concert in Orange Beach that was an excellent triple bill for Baby Boomers. Billed as the “Soundtrack of Summer” tour, the lineup of Styx, Foreigner, and ex-Eagle Don Felder was quite appropriate for the amphitheater at the Wharf, an upscale entertainment and shopping complex that is the antithesis of what Alabama’s “Redneck Riviera” used to be.

As a former member of a supergroup, Felder obviously has his work cut out for him regarding a subsequent solo career, but he’s up to the task, as he started things off in admirable fashion, deftly incorporating Eagles material and well-written solo songs into his set.

And for me at least, the highlight of the entire evening was his slightly-electrified version of “Seven Bridges Road” (a song about Woodley Road south of the Southern By-Pass in Montgomery). It was nothing less than enthralling, with an insistent beat and harmony vocals that were spot-on.

Another memorable moment happened when Felder pulled out his iconic white double-neck Gibson guitar for “Hotel California,” and was joined onstage by Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Todd Sucherman. In addition to singing, Shaw played the guitar parts formerly done by Joe Walsh. Wow.

Styx had the middle slot (they flip back and forth with Foreigner as closers), and we’ve seen them so many times in the last dozen years that we know the band will always deliver a professional-yet-loose show, and such was the case in Orange Beach. Keyboard player/vocalist Lawrence Gowan always has an “audience participation” segment prior to the introduction of “Come Sail Away,” and this time around, he got the attendees into a funny sing-a-long of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” of all things.

Foreigner’s solitary original member, Mick Jones, didn’t come onstage until about the third song. Nevertheless, the band put a lot of crowd-pleasing energy into its performance. The Missus was particularly embued with multi-instrumentalist Tom Gimbel, who played guitar, flute, keyboards, and sax (doing justice to Junior Walker’s classic solo on “Urgent”). The band also showed a lot of class by bringing on a local high school choir to sing on “I Want To Know What Love Is” (they do that at many performances).

So while the concert validated, once again, the propensity of music fans to hold onto the music with which they came of age, Styx and Foreigner also need to be cited as former “arena rock” bands, from a time when that term wasn’t complimentary.

Y’see, rock music critics (too many of whom are frustrated musicians themselves) used to denigrate those two aggregations, as well as Journey and REO Speedwagon, as the, er, “Big Four” of such a “concept.” Those bands were slagged, from what I could tell, for a supposed lack of creativity, including songwriting and recordings.

But here’s the point: One person’s lack of a cutting-edge approach (a matter of individual interpretation) is another’s dependability, and by its very name, “arena rock” indicates success…at least with audiences, and that’s to those bands’ credit.

The critics? I know of a few that are still around, and they’re the same sanctimonious, boring boors that they were decades ago. Didn’t care what they thought then, don’t care what they think now. I can tell you for a fact that the Missus and I enjoy such events, as do thousands of other folks.

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That tour came through here in the last week or so. Having seen Styx so often in the last few years along with knowing Mick Jones might not be with Foreigner turned me off from buying a ticket.

On Friday 38 Special is playing a show, and my ticket is on the front row.

The thing about all these bands is that you can go to a show and every song they play will be recognizable from airplay or albums that were the top sellers of their day. Very little can be considered "music for insiders" with these bands.

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Another memorable moment happened when Felder pulled out his iconic white double-neck Gibson guitar for “Hotel California,” and was joined onstage by Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Todd Sucherman. In addition to singing, Shaw played the guitar parts formerly done by Joe Walsh. Wow.

I'd have bought a ticket just to have seen this! Wow!

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Another memorable moment happened when Felder pulled out his iconic white double-neck Gibson guitar for “Hotel California,” and was joined onstage by Styx’s Tommy Shaw and Todd Sucherman. In addition to singing, Shaw played the guitar parts formerly done by Joe Walsh. Wow.

I'd have bought a ticket just to have seen this! Wow!

Yep.

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You mentioned Alabama in your post. I live in a small but very nice town in North Central Alabama called Cullman. We started a music festival a few years ago called Rock the South and it continues to grow into one of the better festivals in the south, and we are just a dinky town.

It is about a mile from my house and this year's lineup in a week is:

Little Big Town, Lynyard Skynyrd . Charlie Daniels Band, Billy Currington, Cort Ford, Sara Evans, Easton Corbin and Dee Jay Silver.

While this is no dream lineup, and I am not a country fan, for $39 and a 10 minute walk, I can see some good talent. And all in my little 25,000 no name town. I hope they continue to add more southern rock bands in the future.

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Fuck rock critics.

Any music critic actually.

Any critic actually.

Parasites.

The only critic I ever liked was Roger Ebert. If he liked a movie, I did too. Probably 500 bad critics to 1 good one, and many critics are corrupt these days.

I don't even know why we have music critics, people's taste are so different, and if you don't understand the influences behind the music, or how it evolved, you are out to pasture. you will not understand it.

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...

I don't even know why we have music critics, people's taste are so different, and if you don't understand the influences behind the music, or how it evolved, you are out to pasture. you will not understand it.

However, the critics were right that the latest Boston album is a late Bostom album.

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I saw Foreigner a few months ago at Hammersmith and they were excellent. They were supported by Europe and FM.

Like with you Mick Mars came on in the third song. People were wondering where he was before he was introduced to a round of applause.

Europe were kick arse. Norum is still a force.

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The only critic I ever liked was Roger Ebert. If he liked a movie, I did too.

Critics that don't share your tastes can be equally valuable. If they hate something, chances are you'll like it.

In college I was a music critic for the campus newspaper and also for the Milwaukee Journal for my summer internship. While I tried to be as objective as possible, my own sanctimonious sensibilities and preferences inevitably seeped into my work. I don't think that's something that can be avoided. I also think music critics are like sports writers, in that there are few if any who never wanted to be musicians and athletes themselves. The failure to become those things instills a bitterness that can be palpable in what they write about. We also see it on guitar forums where people lash out at established, successful artists. It's human nature.

After I returned from my internship to complete my final two semesters at college, I formed my first serious band, and never went back to music criticism. I found it much more satisfying to create rather than criticize, and I don't think the line between musician and critic should ever be blurred or straddled.

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I saw Foreigner a few months ago at Hammersmith and they were excellent. They were supported by Europe and FM.

Like with you Mick Mars came on in the third song. People were wondering where he was before he was introduced to a round of applause.

Europe were kick arse. Norum is still a force.

Which FM are you referring to? The guys out of Canada?

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Little Big Town, Lynyard Skynyrd . Charlie Daniels Band, Billy Currington, Cort Ford, Sara Evans, Easton Corbin and Dee Jay Silver.

While this is no dream lineup, and I am not a country fan, for $39 and a 10 minute walk, I can see some good talent. And all in my little 25,000 no name town. I hope they continue to add more southern rock bands in the future.

I'm no country music fan, but I'd pay $35 and walk a couple of hours to see her chug a Dr. Pepper and burp the alphabet. Seriously one of the most beautiful humans ever to walk the earth and when she sings I'm a fan of whatever she's singing!

american-country-awards-2013-sara-evans1

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