OMG He's Funny

Usually at these events, I take a picture of the artist/performer, but this was one of the rare occasions the venue made a point of saying "No Recording of Anything - NOTHING".

Tim Minchin is a wonderfully talented, intelligent, insightful and funny performer. His songs are funny, but they also make you think. I have previously shared the song "Prejudice" on this blog, and he performed this last night, along with many others that are loaded on You Tube. If you haven't seen him perform, take a few minutes and go enjoy. Please note, he is not a "G" rated artist, and one of his songs which is a commentary on the Catholic Church and pedophilia is not for the faint of heart or easily offended. In other words, if you're like me and have an issue with organized religion, he's the guy for you.

His final song of the night was the song "Hallelujah", which, as he noted, only is San Francisco can get a 1,000 atheists to sing a hymn. It was almost awe inspiring. 1,000 people in harmony, without any accompaniment singing the final stanza and ended as one. Beautiful. Two plus hours of laughing until you cry and smiling ear-to-ear enjoyment.

I hope he comes back to San Francisco again and again and again.

Meh - It was ok

First - let me say that after having seen this place boarded up and neglected for years, Oakland did a fine job resurrecting this old classic:

It is beautiful inside and out. For that alone, I am thankful I went out last night. Also, had awesome sushi at Ozumo in Oakland. Need to go back there again.

The reason we went to Oakland was to see him -

Joe Satriani. Rock Legend.

Sammy Hagar came out for a couple of songs. That was fun.

But Joe spent the most part of the evening taking us to, and leaving us in, the stratosphere. You need to come down, and not just at the end. For the love of God, can you stay away from the whammy bar for a minute or two? Does each song have to be an epic endeavor?

I love music. I love concerts. I wanted to leave after half an hour, because it all sounded like one note at the neck pickup. Only once did the acoustic come out and he played it for maybe two minutes. It was beautiful. Melodic and almost ethereal. Then back to the break-neck, bass battering clamor.

I'm an old school head banger. Metal has been a passion since I was 17. I couldn't take this. I've seen Judas, Maiden, AC/DC, and would gladly see them again. Satch is on my "don't repeat" list.

Two hours later it was over and I felt every minute of it. After two hours with Springsteen, I want two more. I'll play the music on the way home just to keep the experience going. I had hoped to hear "Down, Down, Down" or "Chords of My Life", even "Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing". If all I heard was "Always With me, Always With You", I would have walked away happy and content. All the songs seemed to be variations of "Satch Boogie".

Hence the title of the post. Meh. It was ok. Check another one off the bucket list.

Thunderstruck

AC/DC



In Oakland.



And Angus can still bring the f 'in house down.



And Brian isn't so bad either! To borrow a quote from my sister-in-law - Wicked Awesome. Couldn't hear a damn thing for over an hour, but I would do it again in a heart beat.