Post by Ray M. on Jun 22, 2008 12:55:44 GMT -5
Verizon Wireless Ampitheter, San Antonio TX.
5th row center...great seats.
My main purpose for tonight was to see Boston, but to be honest...they wore my ears out. Tom Scholz had the biggest rack setup I've ever seen. That thing must've been 15 ft wide by 12 ft high. LEDs going off constantly. Same deal for the rest of the lineup really. Everything was super compressed sounding, and by the end of the night...they had whooped a ton and a half of ear fatigue on me. That new lead singer was pretty good, but no Brad Delp...that's for sure. Fact is, the rhythm guitarist (looks like comedian Richard Lewis, turns out it's Michael Sweet from Stryper) did most of the singing. The new home depot guy mainly sang the really high parts...and did a passable job. The rhythm guy played a mahogany p-90 PRS. Didn't cut through everything else very well. Scholz played his Mighty Mouse goldtop, and was constantly tweeking what appeared to be a 24 channel mixer off to the side with a flunky leaning on it...never doing a d**n thang that I could see.
The hot bass player chick is in fact ....not so hot. Sorry, lady.
My favorite song of Boston's is Foreplay Long Time....and we actually left during the organ opening....made our way to the back and watched it as we exited ahead of the rest of the crowd. But we figured they were close to being done, and reeeaaaally wanted to beat that crowd out of there.
Now...here's the kicker.
Styx opened for them, and they freaking sounded amazing. They used real amps...vintage or reissue Plexi style for both the guitarist (two full stacks each), and a wall of ampegs for the bass player. James Young is a prissy mofo who hams for the cameras...weird guy. He would actually stop and pose, flashing some seriouslyl pearly white choppers when someone was about to take a picture. He can play like hell though. Had a HSS strat with coil splitter on the H...and used it A LOT. Interested to watch and listen to that. But Tommy Shaw was the star of the show, and is a total badass. The most talented person on stage for either band.
He must be endorsing Taylor, because he started out with one of them new Taylor electrics. Pretty, and sounded ok...but after the first song, it was fenders and gibsons the rest of the night.
My wife snagged one of Tommy Shaw's picks and that absolutely made the trip worthwhile all else aside.
Then on the way back, I had to drive through a storm of heckish intensity.
It was a mixed bag in a way, but overall....very enjoyable.
oh yeah...we started out by eating at Texas Roadhouse. Babyback and Ribeye combos. Awesomely good food.
Next weekend it's STP at the ATT Center. Then we'll be through for a while unless my wife can score some comp tickets (from work) for Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick...in July.
5th row center...great seats.
My main purpose for tonight was to see Boston, but to be honest...they wore my ears out. Tom Scholz had the biggest rack setup I've ever seen. That thing must've been 15 ft wide by 12 ft high. LEDs going off constantly. Same deal for the rest of the lineup really. Everything was super compressed sounding, and by the end of the night...they had whooped a ton and a half of ear fatigue on me. That new lead singer was pretty good, but no Brad Delp...that's for sure. Fact is, the rhythm guitarist (looks like comedian Richard Lewis, turns out it's Michael Sweet from Stryper) did most of the singing. The new home depot guy mainly sang the really high parts...and did a passable job. The rhythm guy played a mahogany p-90 PRS. Didn't cut through everything else very well. Scholz played his Mighty Mouse goldtop, and was constantly tweeking what appeared to be a 24 channel mixer off to the side with a flunky leaning on it...never doing a d**n thang that I could see.
The hot bass player chick is in fact ....not so hot. Sorry, lady.
My favorite song of Boston's is Foreplay Long Time....and we actually left during the organ opening....made our way to the back and watched it as we exited ahead of the rest of the crowd. But we figured they were close to being done, and reeeaaaally wanted to beat that crowd out of there.
Now...here's the kicker.
Styx opened for them, and they freaking sounded amazing. They used real amps...vintage or reissue Plexi style for both the guitarist (two full stacks each), and a wall of ampegs for the bass player. James Young is a prissy mofo who hams for the cameras...weird guy. He would actually stop and pose, flashing some seriouslyl pearly white choppers when someone was about to take a picture. He can play like hell though. Had a HSS strat with coil splitter on the H...and used it A LOT. Interested to watch and listen to that. But Tommy Shaw was the star of the show, and is a total badass. The most talented person on stage for either band.
He must be endorsing Taylor, because he started out with one of them new Taylor electrics. Pretty, and sounded ok...but after the first song, it was fenders and gibsons the rest of the night.
My wife snagged one of Tommy Shaw's picks and that absolutely made the trip worthwhile all else aside.
Then on the way back, I had to drive through a storm of heckish intensity.
It was a mixed bag in a way, but overall....very enjoyable.
oh yeah...we started out by eating at Texas Roadhouse. Babyback and Ribeye combos. Awesomely good food.
Next weekend it's STP at the ATT Center. Then we'll be through for a while unless my wife can score some comp tickets (from work) for Journey/Heart/Cheap Trick...in July.
