Week of Santana, Rod Stewart, Foreiner, Styx, Devo, and Arcade Fire

     I already can tell what your thinking from looking at the tital alone. What is wrong with you? In truth it's not as bad as it seems, it's only three shows, all with two bands playing. One thing I can say for sure is that it gave me a lot of stories to tell. So without further ado, this week I will be reviewing Santana with Rod Stewart, Foreigner with Styx, and Arcade Fire with Devo all in concert.

Santana with Rod Stewart 8/14/14 Sprint Center

      Sprint Center is my favorite arena to go to because it's huge, but it has great acoustics, and you can see from everywhere. Unfortunately we ended up getting to the arena late and finding out that the co headlining show had no real opener just Santanna and Rod. The show started right at 7:30 with Santana and we missed a couple songs, buy arrived just in time to hear Oye Commo Va. Santana has a huge band that includes three drummers, two singers, back up dancers, and a full horn section. It brought his music to a very danceable beat all the way to the back of the arena. He played most of his show from his first three albums and Supernateral, but in truth it didn't really matter what he played. The show would have been fun no matter what, the three drummers traded off solos, the horn section blasted, the singers nailed it, of course Santana killed solo after solo after solo. This show was a giant party for the entire hour and half that they played. Of course they played Smooth, Soul Sacrafice, and Black Magic Woman, he also played a clip from Woodstock before copying it live. The show had some of the best jam moments I have seen in a long time, and after all this time he oozes cool as he nails the solos he's been playing for 30+ years.

      I didn't know any Rod Stewart music and the only real reason I went to the show was to see Santana, so this was just extra. The entire stage had changed and out came an entire band of sharp dressed people all in blue and white. That was followed by Rod in the same costume. Rod Stewart is a very old school classy guy he had three costume changes in his show and his band changed to match him. He also had an incredible band, a full horn section, three back up singers, a string section, a drummer, a bass player, and two guitarists. I liked a lot of what I heard, not all, I didn't think I would like much of it going in and I was pleasantly surprised.  I knew he was a crooner that started off as a rocker, but to my surprise the stuff that I liked the most was his crooner stuff. The played all of that section live with a string section. Another personal favorite from the show was I'd Rather Go Blind where he brought out Santana to duel with him. Back and forth they traded off with impressive lines. He played a lot of classic rock covers that were very cool but, his back up singers version of Proud Marry took the cake. He ended the show with two songs I knew, Maggie May and Do You Think I'm Sexy. I would'nt see him again, but he does put on a very good show. 

Foreigner and Styx 8/17/14 Iowa State Fair Grandstand

 

     I always like to go to one good rock show at the Iowa State Fair, except last year because there wasn't a single good rock band there. I got there and was surprised to see Don Felder didn't open, in fact Foreigner did, which was another surprise for me. They started right at 8, and right at 8 they were playing the hits.  They only played 11 songs and for and hour, but it was enough. They were awesome and played everything you wanted to hear. They opened with Head games and three songs in they were already playing Cold as ice. This band is 80's rock incarnate, they are everything I picture when I picture 80's rock. They even put a bright spotlight on the lead singer as he sang the 80's rock anthem Jukebox Hero, and it was magnificent. They even brought out a saxophone for a solo on Urgent and were backed by Dowling High School Choir for I Wanna Know What Love Is. I actually thought that Foreigner put on a much better over all show than the headliner Styx, but it's hard to top the individual moments of Come Sail Away and Renegades. The over all show though, hands down Foreigner wins. 

      I know I knew more songs by Styx, but when I hear that name all I can really think of is Come Sail Away and Renegades. Turns out I did know a few others including the opener The Grand Illusion. The show was fun and even included a spinning piano, and costumes, but it lacked the energy and power of Foreigner. Foreigner even improved Styx's show by dressing up as woman for Lady and running around the stage, and again as a monkey and a banana later. This show is very comparable to Journey live because in truth only two songs really mattered. When the moment came for those two songs it was glorious. He first warmed up the crowd with You Can't Always Get You Want, Sweet Dreams, and Live and Let Die before launching into Come Sail Away. The giant singalong of the show made up for everything. They walked off the stage too a standing ovation and came back with the only song that could top that, Renegades. Those two songs ended the night and sent us into the fireworks.

Arcade Fire 08/26/14 United Center

     I have a lot of last minute stupid ideas that all come up on days when I don't have plans, but this was one of the greats. Yes, let's drive to Chicago on a Tuesday to go see Arcade Fire and Devo before they end their tour. Long story short, we did. When we finally got to the arena it was time for the show to start and Devo made quite the entrance. They came out in their usual nuclear suits and Devo hats, blasting the show with 80's weirdness and opener Girl U Want, before changing outfits and launching into Whip It. Devo are a great band, that puts on a great show, but unfortunately the acoustics in the United Center are terrible and I couldn't really hear what he was singing. They played for a full hour and including all of their best hits, and I know from how fun it was and how much energy they put out that I need to see it again.  Following that came a surprise Dj Set from Dan Deacon. He led the room in some hilarious interpretive dance that saw two people dressed in frog costumes leap frog each other, and latter led the crowd in group yoga.

     All of sudden a parade of well dressed people with paper mache heads and marching drums came from the back of the arena and marched their way to the stage. Yep, Arcade Fire making one of the biggest entrances I have ever seen, marching band style. They opened up the show with Here Comes the Night Time off of Reflector, before diving right into my favorite Arcade Fire song Neighborhood #3 Power Out. It must not be just me the whole crowd erupted into a frenzy. They tried to start up Joan of Arc but the bad acoustics of the United Center struck again and they had to restart the song because they couldn't hear each them selves on stage. The sound issues from Devo did continue for Arcade Fire, but they noticed it and were able to over come some of that near the end. When they got to the song We Exist a smaller stage in the middle of the arena opened up and out came four gay men to dance, and show they were proud of who they were. They would use the B stage again for a human disco ball during reflector, a interpretive dance of costumed monkeys, and a fake band wearing the paper mache heads playing a Bo Diddly cover while Arcade Fire left the stage.

Here is Neighborhood #3 live.

      The thing that makes an Arcade Fire show so much fun live is that anything can happen. Including a Bo Diddly cover from paper mache Arcade Fire followed by real Arcade Fire doing another one, on two different stages. Also if you ever get close enough to actually watch the band you will notice that most of them never stick to the same instrument for more that two songs. Every member of Arcade Fire can play every instrument. They ended the show with Wake Up witch has to be one of the best live songs of all time because the entire arena just erupted every time the chorus chant came back around.The played for two and a half hours, playing material off of all four albums, and put and end to my summer with a bang.