B-52s at the Fox

Last week (Nov 15) the B-52s came to Bakersfield and performed at the Fox theater. The show was quite rocking, with one guy in the row front of us obviously having a blast, what with his jumping and screaming and dancing. Here's a video of one of their famous songs, being performed at the Montreaux in 2007.



This most recent show was in support of their new album 'Funplex'. Many, if not all, of the songs from Funplex were played at the Fox that saturday night. The show started a little after 8 pm, with an opening band from in town. They seemed to play a lot of recognizable tunes (at least parts of/ intros to them) with original lyrics and music to follow. They were pretty decent and got the crowd worked up for the B-52s, who came on a little after 9 and stayed until 10:30 pm, after one encore.

The Nile bar and grill, down the street from the Fox is also an old theater. But this theater has been turned into a bar, with hardwood floors and all. Apparently the remodeling cost between 2 and 3 hundred k. Good place for a few drinks and some good music to dance to....

Van at the Hollywood Bowl

On Nov 7th and 8th Van performed at the Hollywood Bowl. These shows were recorded for an upcoming live album called "Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl", being put out by Van's new record company. He played two sets on Nov 7th. The first set, about an hour long, contained some of his popular songs such as 'Brown Eyed Girl', 'Moondance', 'Gloria'. In that first set he also played classics such as 'St. Domnic's Preview' and 'And the Healing Had Begun',

After a brief intermission, Van played all the songs from 'Astral Weeks', the album considered one of the top 50 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. The concert was unbelievable. The songs played were 'Astral Weeks;, 'Beside you', 'Sweet Thing', 'Cyprus Avenue', 'The Way Young Lovers Do', 'Madame George', a killer version of 'Ballerina' and 'Slim Slow Slider'.

There was a great vibe at the Bowl, as always. As per Morrison's request, they had restricted sales to 5000 seats and had blocked off the rest of the venue. Apparently, according to the parking dude, Van likes to play intimate settings. The view from the terrace seats (4 director's chairs in a box) were direct, unobstructed and amazing. The following is a video from an older performance of the song 'Cyprus Avenue'. Funny thing, when Van performed this last night, he got this tongue tied (intentionally) during the part '...and my tongue gets tied'. Amazing song and an incredible performance by a legend!

The Beginning of a New Hope