The Music Is Up, and It's Gonna Stay That Way! Get Used to it...

Every once in a while I get some anal-retentive-circular-cavity-in-a-posterior (a-hole) who complains about the music on this blog. And every once in a greater while I get people who are just very happy to hear it. In either case I do want to put as much control over content in your hands as I possibly can (within artistic reason) and so the "podcast", as it is called, has controls on it.

Look down in the sidebar on the righthand side of this page and you'll find the podCast player, or Gcast as the folks at GarageBand are wont to call it. There you will find both "pause" and "volume" controls that allow you to adjust or just turn the farking thing off if you should so desire. Use them. Because I'm not about to begin to apologize for the music on this site. It's not particularly there for you to like so much as it is a counterpoint to whatever you may be reading and intended as colour or possibly education or possibly just confusion. And I like it that way. And it's gonna stay that way. Because, basically... I said so. So do please, should be a regular reader, learn to use the controls provided and use them appropriately. And should you be a new reader, learn the house rules around here, and if you have any objections, kindly fuck off - or send me a note...

With that little monkey off my back I'm just proud as punch to present the following wildly incomplete concert history of my personal experiences - just to give you all a real idea of how eclectic and basically confused my musical tastes can be - and even more thoroughly confound even those who may already know me well. The examples here come direct from The Chinese Cookie Jar, a bit of pre-war porcelain left to me by my great grandmother (really Japanese) and the receptacle for little bits of collections of mine - one being my left-over Boy Scout patches and the other being the ticket stubs from all the concerts I have ever attended. In many cases I have not save the stub but noted the show anyway in a lighter colour. Enjoy. I sure did.

1973 Cheech and Chong - Fall - Augustana College - Rock Island, Illinois

1974 Golden Earing, T-Rex, Eric Clapton - July 4 - State Fair Grounds - Davenport, Iowa

1975 Charlie Daniels, Three Dog Night - Summer - State Fair Grounds - Davenport, Iowa

1976 George Carlin - Fall - Augustana College - Rock Island, Illinois

1976 Marshall Tucker Band, Doobie Brothers - Summer - State Fair Grounds - Davenport, Iowa

1977 Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Summer - RKO Orpheum Theatre - Davenport, Iowa

1977 Kool and the Gang - Fall - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1977 Judy Collins - Spring - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1977 Elvis Presley - May - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1978 Bob Dylan - October 28 - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1978 Huey Lewis and the News, Hall & Oates - Spring - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1978 Jean-Luc Ponty - Fall - Shryock Auditorium, SIU - Carbondale, Illinois

1979 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - March 6 - Keil Opera House - St. Louis, Missouri

1979 Maynard Ferguson - March 31 - Shryock Auditorium, SIU - Carbondale, Illinois

1979 Pat Metheny & Lyle Mayes - Spring - Shryock Auditorium, SIU - Carbondale, Illinois

1979 The Beach Boys - April 23 - SIU Arena - Carbondale, Illinois

1980 Utopia (Todd Rundgren) - July 30 - McFarlin Auditorium, SMU - Dallas, Texas

1980 The Rolling Stones - Summer - The Cotton Bowl - Dallas, Texas

1980 The Ramones - Winter - The Western Place - Dallas, Texas

1980 Phil Collins - Winter - Reunion Arena - Dallas, Texas

1981 Marcel Marceau (Concert? He's a mime!) - Mar 29 - Dallas Theatre Center - Dallas, Texas

1981 John McLaughlin, Al Dimeola, Paco De Lucia - Apr 27 - Agora Ballroom - Dallas, Texas

1981 Cheap Trick - Summer - Reunion Arena - Dallas, Texas

1981 Utopia (Todd Rundgren) - July 18 - Agora Ballroom - Dallas, Texas

1982 The Cars - Feb 23 - Reunion Arena - Dallas, Texas

1982 Utopia (Todd Rundgren) - Dec 7 - Agora Ballroom - Dallas, Texas

1983 Jean-Luc Ponty - Oct 29 - Majestic Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1983 Todd Rundgren - Dec 10 - Nick's Uptown - Dallas, Texas

1984 Ben Vereen/Dallas Symphony Pops - Jan 13 - Fair Park Music Hall - Dallas, Texas

1984 Genesis - Jan 21 - Reunion Arena - Dallas, Texas

1984 Suzanne Vega - Spring - Majestic Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1984 The Tubes/Utopia - Summer - Universal Studios - Hollywood, California

1985 Neil Young - Spring - Reunion Arena - Dallas, Texas

1985 Todd Rundgren - Oct 31 - Arcadia Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1985 Todd Rundgren - Nov 22 - Arcadia Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1986 Andreus Vollenwieder - Spring - Majestic Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1986 Lori Anderson - Fall - Majestic Theatre - Dallas, Texas

1987 Spiro Gyra - Summer - Fair Park - Dallas, Texas

1988 Dave Grusin/Lee Ritenour - Harbour Front - San Diego, California

1988 The Duke Ellington Orchestra - Smithsonian Institute - Washington D.C.

1988 Gypsy Kings - Winter - DAR Constitution Hall - Washington D.C.

1989 Campagne Maguy Marin - Nov 11 - Kennedy Center - Washington D.C.

1989 Todd Rundgren - Winter - Baltimore, Maryland

1990 Tears For Fears - May 16 - Star Theatre - Herrillville, Indiana

1990 Julia Fordham - May 22 - Park West - Chicago, Illinois

1990 The Pursuit of Happiness - Sept 22 - Cabaret Metro - Chicago, Illinois

1990 The Phantom of the Opera (Musical) - Nov 24 - Auditorium Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1991 The Posies - Spring - The Vic - Chicago, Illinois

1991 The Grand Hotel (Musical) - Apr 27 - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1991 Les Miserables (Musical) - Aug 24 - Auditorium Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1991 Louie Bellson - Winter - Blackhawk Hotel - Chicago, Illinois

1991 Big Audio Dynamite (BAD), Public Image Limited (PIL) - Winter - Agora Ballroom - Chicago, Illinois

1992 Todd Rundgren - Apr 17 - The Oak Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1992 Van Cliburn - Summer - Grant Park Band Shell - Chicago, Illinois

1992 Chuck Berry - Summer - Ravinia - Chicago, Illinois

1992 Jon Lee Hooker - Chicago Blues Fest, Grant Park - Chicago, Illinois

1992 Utopia Reunion - Fall - Somewhere - Santa Barbara, California

1993 Prince - April 6 - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1993 Eric Clapton - Summer - a horrible Hockey Arena, Hinsdale, Illinois

1993 Ray Charles - Summer - Ravinia - Chicago, Illinois

1993 Steely Dan - Aug 15 - Poplar Creek - Chicago, Illinois

1993 The Grateful Dead with Sting - June 19 - Soldier Field - Chicago, Illinois

1993 Todd Rundgren - Nov 23 - Park West - Chicago, Illinois

1993 Todd Rundgren - Nov 28 - Park West - Chicago, Illinois

1994 The Grateful Dead with Traffic - Jul 23 - Soldier Field - Chicago, Illinois

1994 Blur - Sept 17 - The Vic Theatre - Chicago, Illinois

1994 Ringo Star's Allstar Band - Poplar Creek - Chicago, Illinois

1995 Todd Rundgren - Aug 17 - The Orbit Room - Grand Rapids, Michigan

1995 Todd Rundgren - Dec 31 - Park West - Chicago, Illinois

1995 Luciano Pavaroti - Fall - Olymic Gymnastics Arena - Seoul, Korea

1996 Vienna Symphony Orchestra - Spring - National Theatre - Seoul, Korea

1997 Sting - Summer - Olympic Park, Seoul, Korea

1998 Eric Clapton - Fall - Olympic Gymnastics Arena - Seoul, Korea

2000 The Kronos Quartet - Spring - LG Performing Arts Center - Seoul, Korea

2000 Chuck Mangione - Feb 13 - Seoul Art Center Auditorium - Seoul, Korea

2003 Turandot - Spring - Seoul World Cup Stadium - Seoul, Korea

2004 David Bowie - Mar 14 - Hong Kong Convention Center - Hong Kong

2004 Todd Rundgren - Oct 27 - Shibuya Ax - Tokyo, Japan (click here for story)

2010 Todd Rundgren - AWATS - Paradiso, Amsterdam
2010 Bob Dylan, RMIT, Saigon, Vietnam

2012 Boz Skaggs - Irving Place, NYC (Bob Dylan's Birthday)
2012 Ben Folds - Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, NYC

2013 Dawes - Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, NYC

2015 Todd Rundgren, Global, High Line Ballroom, NYC

2017 Todd Rundgren, White Knight, Tarrytown Music Hall, NY
2017 The Shins, Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Hall & Oates, Forest Hills Stadium, NY
2017 Sufjan Stevens, Planetarium Project, Prospect Park Bandshell, NY
2017 Sparks - Les Poisson Rouge, Greenwich Village, NYC

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Herbie Hancock was in Saigon three years ago but I didn't hear about the show. Asia is basically a crappy place to get good concerts - or at least anywhere outside Tokyo, Hong Kong and the places that are relatively wealthy. I'm sure Seoul has gotten better since I left, but it was still slim pickens during my time there. Hopefully you'll now understand my great need for music on the Internet and just bear with me and use the podCast controls provided in the sidebar.