Photographs by Michael Seinberg
Downtown Albany was throbbing to the beat on Wednesday night as the Club Life College Invasion Tour took over the Times Union Center in Albany for a marathon bash headlined by Tiesto, with support from the likes of Quintino and Tommy Trash.
Review by Kirsten Ferguson
Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk
Near the start of Roger Waters’ high-tech staging of Pink Floyd’s classic rock opera, “The Wall,” a group of cute and determined, if slightly creepy, kids chased down their evil teacher — a ghoulish puppet with bug-eyes and flailing limbs.
They held him at bay by chanting, “We don’t need no education” and “”Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone,” those classic lines from “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II,” Pink Floyd’s diatribe against the rigidity of British schooling — a number-one hit upon its release in 1979 by virtue of its ominous children’s chorus and bounding disco beat.
The kids’ chorus scene — played out next to the towering white-brick wall that served as both the evening’s main metaphor and as a massive video screen for projections of images and animated effects — was a highlight of the night. It was also one of the clearest expressions of the anti-authority message that ran throughout Waters’ new production of Pink Floyd’s classic concept album, “The Wall” and 1982 film of the same name.
From there, the performance got a little muddled thematically at times. But it was always cool to hear and look at — from the overwhelming surround-sound of chopping helicopter blades that preceded “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II” to the “bombs” (in the form of religious icons and corporate logos) dropped by animated planes on the wall during “Goodbye Blue Sky.”
Brad Whitford
“I listened to a lot of my brother’s records, and he was huge into the Kingsmen, so I thought they were pretty cool, too.
But one of the very first records that I bought is kind of funny. I forget how old I was, but it was a Mamas & the Papas album, the one where they’re in the bathtub.
I think it was a mail-order record.”
Guitarist Brad Whitford and his bandmates in Aerosmith storm into the Times Union Center in Albany on Friday (June 29) with their Global Warming Tour. Cheap Trick opens the show at 7:30pm. Tix are $63, $99.50 & $149.50.
Review by Greg Haymes
Photos by Kirsten Ferguson. See more of Kirsten’s photos from this show here.
So where do you find the next generation of up-and-coming country singers? Singing their hearts out for tips in some dingy Nashville roadhouse? No, no, no. Just turn on your television…
Lauren Alaina was the runner-up on the 2011 season of “American Idol,” losing the gold medal and bragging rights to another country singer Scotty McCreery (who will be at SPAC later this month opening for Brad Paisley).
Meanwhile, Canaan Smith rose to a certain level of national name recognition as a contestant on the 2009 season of “The Amazing Race.”
And Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland is currently one of the celebrity judge-singers on the new ABC-TV singing competition, “Duets.”
Last Thursday at the Times Union Center in Albany, I missed Canaan Smith’s opening set due to a ticket snafu at the box office, but Lauren Alaina acquitted herself well with an eight-song set that showcased tunes from her debut album, “Wildflower,” including “Tupelo” (with a nifty a cappella intro), “Like My Mother Does” (a power ballad with the requisite desperate key change), the flirty “Georgia Peaches” and her new single “18 Inches” (penned by another “American Idol” alum, Carrie Underwood). The 17-year-old Alaina also offered a beefy rock cover of Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive” and a swamp-soaked rendition of Little Big Town’s “Boondocks.”
Of course, Sugarland didn’t invent the contemporary country-pop genre, but judging by their performance, they may very well have perfected it. I have rarely, if ever, seen a band so successfully deliver a big hockey arena concert with such a loose, intimate club-show vibe.
Little Steven
“Up until 1964, I was a music fan, but I don’t remember having more than a dozen singles. I don’t think anybody had a rock ‘n’ roll album or the device to play it on until the Beatles.
The first record I remember buying was Little Anthony and the Imperials’ ‘Tears On My Pillow.’ My Aunt Addie got me the Coasters’ ‘Poison Ivy’ because I used to get it every summer. I also had ‘Charlie Brown’ by then.
My emotional involvement increased a bit when I was 11 or 12 with ‘Twist and Shout’ by the Isley Brothers, ‘Pretty Little Angel Eyes’ by Curtis Lee and ‘Sherry’ by the Four Seasons. Other than those, I had ‘Bristol Stomp’ and ‘You Can’t Sit Down’ by the Dovells, ‘Duke of Earl’ by Gene Chandler, ‘Mack the Knife’ by Bobby Darin, a Dion or two, a Shirelles, a Chiffons and the next four or five Four Seasons singles, of course. My Uncle Sal would introduce me to Smokey Robinson with ‘Going to a Go-Go,’ but that was a bit later.
I didn’t have too many, but I was passionate about the records I had. Believe it or not, I had to re-buy ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Sherry’ because I wore them out. A virtual scientific impossibility. I’m sure the wearing out had as much to do with those little boxes we’d carry singles in with no sleeves for protection, but I did play them hundreds of times.
Review and photographs by Kirsten Ferguson
There was no phalanx of half-naked warriors striking Egyptian poses, no toga-clad dancer bouncing his groin acrobatically off a tightrope, no appearance by Cee Lo Green in an over-stuffed marching band outfit.
Compared to halftime at the Super Bowl, Kelly Clarkson’s recent concert at the Times Union Center was relatively tame and uncontroversial. Its edgiest moment came when Clarkson, drenched in blood red light, performed a dramatic cover of “Heavy in Your Arms” by English indie-pop band Florence and the Machine over a tribal, primitive beat.
Bob Weir performing with Furthur at SPAC last July
“I tend listen to modern classical or jazz from any era. I don’t listen to a whole lot of pop music, but I’m probably going to get back around to that at some point. For the last few years, if I want to listen to music for my own pleasure, I like to go as far away from what I do as I can get.”
Vocalist-guitarist Bob Weir, his old Dead bandmate Phil Lesh and the rest of Furthur will be rolling into the Times Union Center in Albany at 7pm on Tuesday (November 15). Tix are $45 and $55.
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