B.B. King 10/01/14 Arvest Bank Theater
This was one of the more legendary performers that I have gotten to see, and that's saying a lot coming from me. I have wanted to see him for years and finally got the chance. At the theater the audience was beside itself after the lights dimmed. The band came out and started into an epic jazz jam session. Little did I know it but this would turn out to be the best part of the show. After an epic introduction, out walked B.B. King himself and the crowd went wild. They would start songs and the band would get into it, B.B. King would try to play along and do so for a little bit and then stop the band to tell a story. He would sing the first chorus of most songs and then he would just stop singing. The band would try to carry on for him when he couldn't play, but he stopped them ever 5 minutes. It was a very disheartening moment for many in the crowd who got up and left half way through. The rest of us stayed through all of the disappointment in honor of the legend and even gave a standing ovation after the show. People lined the aisles after the show to get one good picture of the living legend.
Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band 10/04/14 Starlight Theater
I had already seen Paul McCartney and I really wanted to see both of the living Beatles. Unlike the other living Beatle, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr doesn't play all Beatles songs every night. he has more fun playing with a group of expert musicians from famous bands. Every night they go out and play music from all of their past musical groups. The played music from Santana, Toto, The Beatles, Ringo's solo work, and tons of other all star covers. The band had Ringo sing on only his songs, and Beatle songs. Other singers would come and sings some covers, like a revolving door of lead singers. Ringo spent most of the show in his happy place on the drums. He told great stories about his time with The Beatles and ended the show with a tribute to John Lennon by covering Give Peace a Chance by The Plastic Ono Band.
Of Montreal 10/07/14 Wooly's
I had never seen Of Montreal before, and they have one of the most unique live shows I have ever seen. The show started with an announcer in a super hero costume coming out with a video game back drop to announce the arrival of the band upon our city. This show had more props, costumes, and super hero clad announcers than I had ever seen. The stage roadies had almost as much of an important role in show as the band itself. Look at the picture above, one of many large and crazy costume prop combinations. The music itself it one of strangest, coolest, indie rock sounds in the business. The singer was a bit hard to hear, but the band was awesome and more than made up for it. The whole show was more like a musical than a show, full props, costumes, stage hands, lights shows, announcers, back up dancers, and video backdrops. It was a crazy special to behold.
Jimmy Eat World 10/10/14 Wooly's
It's hard to believe that in 2014 Jimmy Eat Wold's Futures was already 10 years old. I loved Bleed American, but Futures was always my favorite. This event was the emo rock event of the year. It was sold out and everything. The band came out sincerely thanking the crowd and seemingly enjoying the walk down memory lane as much as everyone else. They played the whole futures album from front to back with only a few breaks to tell the audience how confusing the bands opinion about drugs was during writing the album. The ending of the main set with 23 was amazing and sent shivers down my spine. The band came back for it's first encore and played mostly b-sides. On the second encore is when the real hits came. They played my Best Theory, A Praise Chorus, and Sweetness back to back. The crowd went nuts and it capped off a very nostalgic evening.
The Pixies 10/11/14 State Theater
I had the chance to see the Pixies once before at Riot Fest 2013, but it was a very short set. I wanted to see them play a full show, and Royal Blood opening didn't hurt. Royal Blood opened with the best opening set I have ever seen. The Pixies started up with Ed is dead and tore through 31 mores songs without stopping for much more than a thank you at the end of the set. They came back for a quick encore of my favorite song Debaser and Planet of Sound. It was an amazing feat of musical skill. They may hate each other, but when they sound that good and play music off of all of their albums, who cares. The cherry on top was getting to meet the singer Black Francis after the show.
Ryan Adams 10/18/14 Stevens Auditorium
After waiting till the last second to get tickets because of scalpers not being able to sell enough tickets, I ended up getting 5 dollar tickets to see Ryan Adams. I had been a fan since the Cardinals first broke up, but had never seen him play. Mostly because he rarely tours anymore. After Ryan Adams walked out he had some technical difficulties and couldn't play for a few minutes. He took this time to tell some jokes to make the audience feel awkward and then launched into Gimme Something Good. Throughout the show he played material from all of his past albums including the Cardinals. He has some of the funniest banter around, "We used to have back up dancers but they quit after we played role playing games all night." He even did an improv song about being friends with his band and buying a gumball machine to fill with weed. The show was blast of folk, rock, indie, with some jams thrown in. They even ended the show with his heaviest song I See Monsters. An absolute was blasting rock jam that didn't seem to fit at all in the rest of the set, but made me very happy.
Judas Priest 10/21/14 Arvest Band Theater
Getting to see the legendary Judas Priest live was something I have wanted as long as I can remember. I missed them on the 2012 farewell tour, so I was ecstatic to get to the chance to see them in 2014. Even better was that Steel Panther was opening for them. After Steel Panther rocked and made the audience laugh their asses off, Judas Priest was up next. Everyone was wondering how Rob Halford would sound at his age. That question was quickly answered as the band opened with Dragonaut. Rob Halford sounded great and dressed in his usual leather jacket fashion, he had at least five others in the show. They Quickly followed that with Metal Gods, Devil's Child, and Victim of Changes before launching into my favorite new song Halls of Valhalla. They played songs from British Steel, Defenders of the Faith, Screaming for Vangence, Killing Machine, Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, and Turbo. They ended the main set with Jawbreaker and Breaking the Law. During the first encore he came back with Hell Bent for Leather, and You've Got Another Thing Comin'. The second encore started with Rob Halford riding on to the stage with a motorcycle and playing Living After Midnight. The show ended with a crowd singalong of Defenders of the Faith. The entire crowd looked like a drunken pub crawl singing the national anthem, or in this case the metal anthem.
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