| Artist |
Date |
Venue |
| James Taylor |
July, 1988 |
Great Woods, Mansfield, MA |
| Bruce Hornsby |
December, 1993 |
Palace Theater, New Haven, CT |
| Billy Joel & Elton John |
July, 1994 |
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ |
| Bruce Hornsby/Bonnie Raitt |
August, 1994 |
Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY |
| Great concert, but they performed in serial, not together, not even
on "I Can't Make You Love Me," the hit they recorded together. |
| Bruce Hornsby |
September, 1995 |
Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, NY |
| As my home page says, this show featured the best Hornsby concert moment I have
ever seen. Bebop. Then Mozart. Then bebop and Mozart at the same time. Pretty crazy. |
| Groove Collective |
March, 1996 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| Joshua Redman |
March, 1996 |
Village Vanguard, New York, NY |
| Spectacular. A friend and I went "standby" and wound up getting the extra
seats five feet away from Redman himself. |
| Howard Jones/Susan Werner |
May, 1996 |
The Bottom Line, New York, NY |
| Not quite the electricity of one of Jones's 1980s tour dates, but the intimate
setting and emphasis on solo piano made for an interesting nostalgia trip. Werner was excellent, too. |
| Sponge/Expanding Man |
June, 1996 |
Coney Island High, New York, NY |
| Sponge's 1995 hit "Plowed" made me want to see this show. But the band's
live performance amounted to a mechanical recitation of their studio recording, except
for a corny reggae variation on "Molly." |
| The Spin Doctors |
June, 1996 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| Four years past their prime, and they still put on an energetic show--nearly
three hours. |
| Beck |
July, 1996 |
Paleo Music Festival, Nyon, Switzerland |
| Lou Reed |
July, 1996 |
Paleo Music Festival, Nyon, Switzerland |
| Dave Matthews Band |
October, 1996 |
New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, CT |
| The geniuses at the New Haven Parking Authority decided that even for event
parking, you should
pay when you exit, not enter. A mere 90 minutes from concert to highway. At least the Yankee
game was on the radio. |
| Guster |
March, 1997 |
The Bayou, Washington, DC |
| Some friends who went to Tufts, where Guster got its start, alerted me that this band world famous
one day. It turned out to be true, though I haven't seen the band since. Great bongos. |
| Bush/Veruca Salt |
April, 1997 |
Capital Centre, Landover, MD |
| Bush, not surprisingly, was melodramatic and bland. The real story was
Veruca Salt. |
| Phish |
November, 1997 |
Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY |
| Phish |
November, 1997 |
The Centrum, Worcester, MA |
| Jazz Mandolin Project |
January, 1998 |
The Knitting Factory, New York, NY |
| On a live recording, you hear a voice yelling "Fishman rules!" to Phish
drummer Jon Fishman, who played with the Project on that tour. That voice is mine. |
| Ben Folds Five |
February, 1998 |
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY |
| Despite Ben Folds Five's impressive music, this show was dreadfully
annoying because either the sound system was bad, or the band didn't practice enough with
it, or both. |
| Phish |
April, 1998 |
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY |
| God Street Wine |
April, 1998 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| Beck and Ben Folds Five |
June, 1998 |
Saratoga Perf. Arts Ctr., Saratoga, NY |
| This show made me realize just how spectacular in concert Beck really is.
He may be physically short, but that makes his command of his diverse band all the more impressive.
This show featured a 15-minute DJ solo. |
| String Cheese Incident |
June, 1998 |
Berkshire Music Fest., Lanesboro, MA |
| Who says you can't judge a book by its cover? The only reason I saw this band
was its name (and the instruments it used). Now it's one of my all-time favorites. |
| The Other Ones/Rusted Root |
July, 1998 |
Saratoga Perf. Arts Ctr., Saratoga, NY |
| An unforgettable convergence of Deadheads in soaking rains. |
| Phish |
July, 1998 |
The Gorge, George, WA |
| Well worth the two-hour drive from (and back to) Seattle. The magic moment
in this show was when they played "Divided Sky" as the sun set behind the Columbia River. |
| Smashing Pumpkins |
August, 1998 |
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY |
| Unsatisfying despite great anticipation. Billy Corgan vented frustration that all the audience wanted
to hear was the hits. Also, rock music in the elegant confines of Radio City simply does not
compute. |
| The Beach Boys |
September, 1998 |
Universal Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| So it was a few years past their peak. This performance, in a room no larger
than a high school auditorium, was both intimate and energetic. |
| Brian Setzer Orchestra |
September, 1998 |
Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA |
| Phish |
November, 1998 |
Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY |
| Phish |
November, 1998 |
The Centrum, Worcester, MA |
| Maceo Parker |
December, 1998 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| A second look confirmed what I first thought coming out of this show: Maceo,
despite the cult following, is one of the most over-rated performers of our time. |
| Bruce Hornsby |
April, 1999 |
Oakdale Theater, Wallingford, CT |
| I think there was some kind of senior citizen discount for this show, because
at the age of 27 I was the 3rd or 4th youngest member of the audience. |
| Bruce Hornsby |
April, 1999 |
Town Hall, New York, NY |
| Much better. A more representative Hornsby crowd--part Deadhead, part jazz
expert, part stockbroker, with an average age under 40. |
| String Cheese Incident |
April, 1999 |
Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY |
| My friend from Colorado loved this show. My friends from Long Island
thought it contained too much "country." I thought it was perfect. |
| Jon Spencer Blues Explosion |
May, 1999 |
Roseland, New York, NY |
| I believed that live music was inherently good until this show--the first
I've left before the end. As my friend observed, "Noise does not have a hook." |
| Chick Corea |
June, 1999 |
Carnegie Hall, New York, NY |
| Phish |
July, 1999 |
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA |
| Phish |
July, 1999 (next day) |
Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA |
| The Disco Biscuits |
August, 1999 |
Berkshire Music Festival, G. Barr., MA |
| Bruce Hornsby with Bela Fleck |
August, 1999 |
Ives Music Center, Danbury, CT |
| Phish |
October, 1999 |
Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY |
| God Street Wine |
December, 1999 |
Wetlands, New York, NY |
| Is this listing an antique? This was God Street Wine's second-to-last
show ever. Two years later, Wetlands had closed. |
| Deep Banana Blackout |
February, 2000 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| Bland. Deep Banana Blackout might be in the jam-band circuit, but of the
bands I've seen, they are the weakest link. Goodbye. |
| Bruce Hornsby/Maceo Parker |
June, 2000 |
Beacon Theater, New York, NY |
| The Other Ones/Ziggy Marley |
September, 2000 |
Continental Arena, East Rutherford, NJ |
| String Cheese Incident |
October, 2000 |
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY |
| Eve6 |
March, 2001 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| Standing for three hours on a fractured left foot was really not
a good idea. |
| Bruce Hornsby |
July, 2001 |
Pines Theatre, Florence, MA |
| Bruce Hornsby |
August, 2001 |
Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA |
| Allman Brothers Band |
August, 2001 |
Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Denver, CO |
| Red Rocks is a great place to see music (once), but the age of the Allman
Brothers showed. Uninspired. |
| Cracker |
March, 2002 |
Irving Plaza, New York, NY |
| A bland recitation, and too mellow. Read my full review. |
| Bruce Hornsby |
July, 2002 |
Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, NY |
| Rush |
October, 2002 |
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY |
Every bit as captivating and technically excellent as expected. |