RICHARD MARX
Wednesday, 11/15/00 at The Bottom Line in New York City, NY
There I was at work on a typical Wednesday afternoon in November. I picked up a copy of the Village Voice to see what was going on for the weekend. I came across an ad for The Bottom Line. The one and only Richard Marx was playing that night. After work I walked around for a little, then headed over to West 4th St. where a packed house was treated to a perfect combination of Richard's greatest hits such as "Angelia", "Should've Known Better", "Now and Forever" and "Right Here Waiting" as well as songs from his new record, "Days in Avalon", including the title track, "Someone Special" and "Straight from My Heart". I was very impressed with the way everything translated to the stage. The band was very tight. The new record is, in my opinion, his best yet.
In between songs, he told stories about working with N'Sync (he wrote and produced their hit, "This I Promise You", which he played a bit of). He made light of his past successes, joking about how radio wasn't really playing his music anymore and waitresses weren't recognizing him when he went out with his kids. Well, that night, those at The Bottom Line were definitely glad we were hearing his music and we certainly recognized him.
"Greatest Hits" "Days in Avalon"
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES
Friday, 7/27/01 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City, New York
It's a beautiful thing when the Jersey Shore and New York City become one. Southside's music is everything all at once. It's rock, pop, r & b, motown, soul and blues. It's spontaneous. It's humorous. It's heartfelt. Most of all, it's cool. The way rock n roll should be. His first three albums, "I Don't Want to Go Home", "This Time it's for Real" and "Hearts of Stone" are his classics and half the set is pulled from those three records. Many songs came from "Better Days" and "Messin' Around with the Blues". There was an off the cuff cover of Rick Nelson's "Travelin' Man", sung by guitarist, Bobby Bandiera. Over the past few years, Southside has rarely played songs from the "in between" albums but for this show the band surprised many by playing "I'm So Anxious", "On the Beach", "Love is a Sacrifice" and their amazing version of "Walk Away Renee" as featured on their excellent 1986 album, "At Least We Got Shoes". Who knows, maybe soon we'll be hearing "Get Your Body on the Job", "On the Air", "Tell Me That Our Love is Still Strong" and "You Can Count on Me" at a Jukes show!!! (Well, probably not, but a kid can dream, can't he?)
As always, the crowd was loving it, the Jukes were loving it and I'm sure B.B. would've loved it had he been there too!
August 2000 Southside Johnny concert review
BIG SHOT
"The Long Island BILLY JOEL Tribute Band"
I've seen these guys so many times I don't even remember! They play all over Long Island, New York paying tribute to local hero, Billy Joel. I'll tell you right now, Big Shot is the real thing. Billy has never really had an "image" to copy so the music was always the center of attention and Big Shot really nails it. Since they started in November of 2000 they've been treating audiences to a show filled with hits and favorites like "Moving Out", "Keeping the Faith", "This is the Time", "New York State of Mind" and "Piano Man". If you like Billy Joel you will have a memorable night out with BIG SHOT. I mean really, when's the last time you heard "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" played by a bar band?
*UPDATE 2003: There are now 2 Billy Joel tribute bands:*
