“The Easy Ways” by Jim Fusco Album Release Party Concert – Full Video!

Happy 2015, everyone!  For my first post of the year, I’m proud to bring you the full video from my concert celebrating the release of my 2014 album, “The Easy Ways”!  In this concert, I play the album in its entirety.  I made a special mix of the album without the lead vocals and lead guitar.  So, I was able to play alongside that backing track to give the audience a real preview of what the album sounded like!

We had a great turnout and performance went off without a hitch.  If you weren’t able to make it, it’s a great opportunity to watch and listen to the whole album!  And, if you went, I’m sure you’ll want to relive the concert again and again. 🙂

The concert, like the album, is split into two sections.  So, make sure to watch both videos.  I’d love to hear any comments about the album and hope everyone enjoys.

Bruce Hornsby: LIVE IN CONCERT – MGM Grand, Mashantucket, CT (March 27, 2009) – REVIEW

By Chris Moore:

Right off the bat, I have to address how proud I am of myself that I was able to suppress the strong urge to title this concert review “That’s Just the Way It Was.”  As tempting as it was, I’m sure it’s already been used somewhere by someone…

At 8:02 on Friday night at the MGM Grand, only two minutes after the official start time of the concert, Bruce Hornsby appeared unceremoniously by walking out of the shadows, approaching his piano from stage right.  No announcements, no opening band.  (For a moment, I thought this might be a technician coming out for one last equipment inspection – and, if you’ve ever seen America perform, you know how many times it’s possible for a techie to inspect and tune  the guitars!)

As he neared the piano, he surveyed the assortment of papers strewn about the top of his piano.  Notes to himself?  A set list?  Lyrics for the less familiar tunes?

Negative, on all accounts.

Apparently, Hornsby does not work from a setlist.  Instead, he takes in requests from the audience before shows in the form 0f handwritten song titles slipped onto the stage.  His offical website reports, “Yes, it’s true. Bruce does not have a set list for his concerts. He comes up with the set list through requests from the audience. So, if you attend a concert, be sure to carry paper to write your requests on and place them on the stage.”  This is a novel approach, to be certain.  I wanted to participate in the process, but I have only been a “greatest hits” fan.  Aside from that, I would have had to design a paper airplane that was a marvel of physics in order to have my request reach the stage from my seat in the “Parterre” section of the MGM Grand theater, which is French for orchestra seats (and, apparently, English for “far away from the stage, but still technically on the ground level”).

After a brief, positive commentary from Hornsby about the array of requests, he started into the first song.  From the moment his hands touched the keys, it was apparent that he is truly a masterful musician, one of the few that is able to blend intricate classical arrangements into catchy pop/rock, country, and bluesgrass songs.

His first couple selections were played alone, but he was soon joined onstage by the Noise Makers (J.T. Thomas on keyboards, Bobby Read on saxophones (etc.), J.V. Collier on bass, Doug Derryberry on lead guitar, and Sonny Emory on drums).  Soon after, they launched into the first song with which I was familiar.  “Every Little Kiss” was all piano riffs and rock’n roll catchiness.  Well, maybe more adult contemporary than rock, but…

This was the first of several “greatest radio hits” tracks that Hornsby and the Noise Makers performed, much to the delight of my father and I.  Overall, the set list was a diverse collection of the hits, the deep tracks, and covers.  Some were note-for-note replicas of studio versions, such as “The Good Life,” while others were stripped apart and turned inside out, like “The Way It Is.”  There was a definite, if controlled sense of a jam band mentality.  During the final jam of the main set, Hornsby slipped from one song to the next, folding in a couple of high-energy verses from Bob Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.”  I had begun to tire of the jamming by the end of the show, and this fine touch really brought it all back home for me. (Please send your criticisms of that shameless pun to Chris, care of a comment below…)

At one point, Hornsby left the piano to strap on his accordion and take center stage for two songs.  As he approached the microphone with the new instrument, he commented that he had recently been with Levon Helm.  He introduced the following song by saying that this would please those in the crowd who enjoyed nostalgia, as this was a track from the band — namely, “Evangelne.”  The version did not disappoint and proved further that Hornsby is nothing if not an excellent multi-instrumentalist.

Hornsby was a personable, likable figure onstage.  In between songs, he kept a running commentary going, reflecting on the state of the economy and thanking everyone for coming out to see him perform all the same.  Early on, he revealed that Foxwoods management had told him to play for only 65 minutes.  Just over an hour for some who had paid $50 plus a “convenience” charge — that’s outrageous!  In his very laid-back manner, he said about as much and said they would stretch it to 90 minutes or so.  It sounded as if they told him that 65 minutes was the suggestion and 90 minutes was the outside limit.  He was true to his word, as the main set took the show’s running time to just over an hour and a half plus an encore.

Later on in the show, he expressed how happy he was that he remembered all the words to a track from his first album, a song that he played by request.

On the whole, this was a truly enjoyable concert.  I have an increased respect for Hornsby’s abilities as a pianist and performer, the Noise Makers were a flexible and vastly talented group, and the MGM Grand is a comfortable environment with excellent acoustics.  For my taste, there was too much of a jam band mentality on many of the selections — even Hornsby commented at one point that, due to the time limitations, the songs would be shorter than usual.  Maybe that’s not a bad thing, he said.  He continued, “There’s a fine line between self-expression and self-indulgence,” glancing with a grin to his bandmates.  I couldn’t agree more.

This concert was a bonding experience of sorts for me, as my father is a longtime fan of Hornsby and an even longer-time fan of the song “The Way It Is.”  While we both enjoyed the show, the low point of the show was indisputably their performance of the aforementioned hit single.  Aside from the initial keyboard blast of the familiar riff, the song was given a new, more jumpy tempo and the tune was stripped apart into an understated sequence of lines.  There was none of the charm of the studio version, and all biases being admitted, this version was nothing to brag about on its own.  For those five minutes, I appreciated what it must be like to attend a Dylan concert expecting to hear faithful versions of his hits, only to be met with deep tracks and rearranged versions.  Still, I maintain that the Dylan live experience offers up new and interesting, entertaining takes on his songs, whereas this was disappointing from all angles.

Regardless, the show as a whole was well worth the $35, and is an experience that I will remember fondly for years to come.  Part of that comes out of a bias, but this time a positive one!

The White Stripes’ “Under Great White Northern Lights” (2010) – Yes, No, or Maybe So

The White Stripes’ “Under Great White Northern Lights” (2010) – MAYBE SO 

The White Stripes' "Under Great White Northern Lights" (2010)

The White Stripes' "Under Great White Northern Lights" (2010)

(March 16, 2010)

Review:

On their first live album, Jack and Meg White deliver adrenaline-fueled, frenetic performances of some of the best material from their catalog, tearing through each song with a raw energy that displays a simultaneous mastery of and disregard for form. 

Top Two Tracks:

“Blue Orchid” & “300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues”

The Bob Dylan Concert Primer: November 2010 – Playlists on Parade

By Chris Moore:

Since Mike, Nicole, and I are getting revved up for Bob Dylan’s upcoming November 27th concert at the MGM Grand, I’ve been designated the task of preparing a soundtrack for preparation.  I’ve been so busy that I’ve let time slip by since Mike asked me, but I couldn’t allow this to go any farther than tonight.

I started by looking up the set lists for Dylan’s past ten shows (this was made simple by them being easily available on Dylan’s Facebook page).  Each set list is comprised of between 15 and 17 songs, so I sorted through all of the songs and put a tally mark next to each track for each time it was performed.

Well, 53 songs later, it was only somewhat clearer which songs might be played at our November 27th show!

I’ve done my best here to put together the tracks that have been played most often, sorting through different versions I have on my iTunes to pick for not only the best versions, but also to add variety to the playlist.  And “Thunder on the Mountain,” “Ballad of a Thin Man,” “Jolene,” and “Like A Rolling Stone” have been played at every show in the same order, so those are a fairly certain bet (unless he switches it up in the next few weeks).  I’ve put them at the end of the playlist, as they were most often the end of the set list, so don’t stop before you reach those!

Once I compiled this playlist, I couldn’t help but post it here online…

Without further ado, here it is, my November 2010 Bob Dylan Concert Primer.  For all those going to see Dylan this month, I hope this is helpful!  🙂  (For the true Dylan fanatic, I’ve posted my raw data notes below this playlist.)

1)  “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Live, 1966

2)  “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” – Together Through Life (2009)

3)  “Highway 61 Revisited” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

4)  “Just Like a Woman” – Blonde on Blonde (1966)

5)  “Summer Days” – Love & Theft (2001)

6)  “Workingman’s Blues #2” – Modern Times (2006)

7)  “Tangled Up in Blue” – Blood on the Tracks (1975)

8)  “Cold Irons Bound” – Masked & Anonymous (2003)

9)  “Simple Twist of Fate” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Live 1975

10)  “High Water (For Charley Patton)” – The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs (Live Version, 2003)

11)  “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” – Modern Times (2006)

12)  “Thunder on the Mountain” – Modern Times (2006)

13)  “Ballad of a Thin Man” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

14)  “Jolene” – Together Through Life (2009)

15)  “Like a Rolling Stone” – Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Statistics compiled from 10 setlists of shows between Oct 19 and Oct 31, 2010.  Each night, Dylan played between 15 and 17 songs.

Leopard Skin                                                iiiiiiii

This wheels                                                i

stuck inside                                                iii

just like a woman                                    iiiiiii

beyond here                                                iiii

tangled up                                                iiiiii

rollin and tumblin                                    iiii

spirit on the water                                    ii

high water                                                iiiiiiiii

workingman’s blues                                    iiii

highway 61                                                iiiiiiiiii

ain’t talkin                                                i

Thunder on the                                     iiiiiiiiii

ballad of a thin man                        iiiiiiiiii

Jolene                                                iiiiiiiiii

Like a rolling stone                        iiiiiiiiii

senor tales of                                                ii

I’ll be your baby                                                 i

the levee’s gonna                                    iiii

i don’t believe you                                    i

honest with me                                                ii

a hard rain’s a-gonna                                    ii

cold irons bound                                                iiii

love sick                                                            ii

nettie moore                                                ii

rainy day women #12                                     i

Don’t think twice                                                ii

tryin’ to get to heaven                                    ii

blind willie mctell                                    i

summer days                                                iiii

cat’s in the well                                                i

it’s all over now baby blue                                    ii

things have changed                                    ii

desolation row                                                ii

not dark yet                                                i

all along the watchtower                                    ii

lay lady lay                                                i

Man in the long black                                    i

i feel a change comin on                                    i

visions of johanna                                    i

Masters of war                                                i

simple twist of fate                                    iiii

just like tom thumb’s                                    i

forgetful heart                                                i

It ain’t me babe                                                i

tweedle dee & tweedle dum                        i

if you ever go to houston                                    iii

when the deal goes down                                    i

the man in me                                                i

positively 4th street                                    i

the lonesome death of hattie                        i

forever young                                                i

queen jane approximately                                    i