Radio City Music Hall June 20, 2008

kev · Jun 23, 2008, 06:19 PM

As the great Dave Matthews sang, "Turns out not where but who you're with that really matters..." I believe it. My wife and I had a blast on the very last row in RCMH! This is our second show (first was the orange peel last year, which was killer) and we had a great time. I know I did, singing all night long and having a good time in the empty upper deck. That was what confused us? We had such a hard time getting tickets in the first place, and felt lucky when a couple of weeks after opening sale, there were magically some tickets on ticketmaster one day when my wife just happened to check. Then, we get to RCMH and wonder where all the people are if it is sold out?! Oh well, I guess it is our luck and congrats to the guy who said he got tickets on row 20 about ten minutes before the show - you should buy a lottery ticket my man!

I really wanted to hear Bermuda Highway, Steam engine, Thank you too, and lay low and holy crap was that so awesome! Just want to say Thank you too! to the band for their killer skills and the spectacular show they put on for almost three hours. I thought about how good I felt to be there enjoying some of the best music I have ever heard in my life and just how good life was!

doEVILslittle · Jun 23, 2008, 07:32 PM

anyone else feel after rcmh that they should never play OBH unless it's the closer?

the_wizzard · Jun 23, 2008, 09:43 PM

"By the time the band roared through its closer, "One Big Holiday," the room had been thoroughly sanctified."

Couldn't have said any better than that! WoW :o :o :o :o

I really can't explain it any better than Ms. Yvon (and we were 5 seats and 1 row away from each other....YEAH)! Got to NYC on Thursday night and was in a state of giddy anticipation until I finally laid my head to rest on Friday night (well, technically Saturday morning ;)). I so wish that I could have met up with everyone at the Heartland, but I was in charge of getting 15 or more people from the west coast (and a few east coasters) all together and at the show on time (call me mom). Next time, I promise to show up (which for me will be Berkeley Greek).
I had no problem securing a poster and my lovely, sober friend took it home with her after the show and is mailing it to me this week. She is officially my poster hero! To those who did not get a poster, I suggest contacting Guy Burwell directly. With enough interest, I am almost sure he would run off another set of prints (it has happened before). And better that the artist gets the money, right? He did say on his website that a limited number of copies may be available as of 6/21, but I haven't checked.
Got to my most amazing seat and thoroughly rocked my face and whole head off. Murph, LOVE the neckbrace comment. On Saturday night all of my family of friends had a bbq in Williamsburg and when I mentioned my headbanging injury, I got a big, "That's what it is!" from everyone there. Awesome show and they were wearing the BIGGEST smiles on stage.
Highlights for me was the whole fucking rock and roll vibe as well as the gratitude coming from the band. I love you guys so much! thank you for the cape, the side excursions to give the mezz some love, the cape, the james brown dance moves, the knee slide, Carl's set 1, and to top it off, they got the 2 girls bum rushing the stage. Now that is rock and roll!
Fabulous show, fabulous time in the city, fabulous time with friends. All that was missing was my husband [smiley=sad.gif]. But he will be by my side at the Greek, Edgefield, and McCaw, so we will revel in the beauty of Thank You Too at those shows.

Thank you Jim, Tom, Carl, Bo, and Patrick. That was just perfect!

Pictures to come....got to process the good from the bad.

ultravisitor · Jun 24, 2008, 12:46 AM

Even though I've seen them four times, hearing news about this show just makes me even more impatient to see them again. I seriously cannot see this band enough times.

The Chicago Theater shows seem to be the end of the first leg of the tour, so the band should be very much in a groove by the time they come to Chicago. I hope and pray for an amazing two nights with them.

colleen · Jun 24, 2008, 01:10 PM

Crispy · Jun 24, 2008, 01:33 PM

Just getting back to a computer today and wading thru a week's worth of catching up at work...

I'll echo BH's sentiments about what I expected vs. what I got - totally different, but Oh Man, who cares, what a show! We were in the 1st row in the 1st mezzanine all the way to the right, as you can see in the pics and vids of Jim having his escapades up the stairs to the balcony (I'm the bald goofball with his arms in the air). Definitely the furthest I've been from the stage at any of the Jacket shows I've been to, but of course, the sights and sound were great anyway. Maybe it was the spectacle, or maybe it was the $18 double Jacks (wot, no Kentucky Bourbon??), but I didn't notice much talking around me. It was cool to be able to watch the crowd in the Orchestra below us, but it seemed to me that the people in the side sections were just going nuts dancing and rocking, while the center sections were much more reserved. I attributed that to the ticket debacle where everyone buying tix online early were only getting seats on the sides, and there were no center seats up front to be had, which I assume were sold by ticket brokers to the Mandys who spent the show chatting up their friends.

The show: Immediately when we got to our seats, I saw the stair leading down directly to the stage and said to my girlfriend, "I wonder who might come up that way?" For me, Two Halves divided the set like it does on Evil Urges - kinda light on the first side, then more of the harder stuff on the 2nd. When those reggae notes of Phone Went West began after Two Halves, I knew we were in for it the rest of the way, and we were not disappointed. From PWW to Aluminum Park (my favorite rocker on EU) to Steam Engine - I need to stop going on about my experience on this one, but I can't help it - when Jim started up the side, I moved over by the usher because I knew he was coming all the way up. And then there he was, making eye contact with the crowd, just relishing the rockstarness of being at Radio City and flying above the crowd. Totally my favorite MMJ moment, as you see by my face-wide grin in bigskys' video. Oh Run Thru, and of course One Big Holiday - the crowd singing along and just belting it all out, every time I see this I think it can't get any better and yet it does.

I think it was the best overall performance out the 8 I've seen. Jim's vocal was flawless, the playing was just mid-blowing as always, and I really enjoyed Carl's sax on Dondante - there's more inflection in his playing now, I'd like to hear more!

And like the others have said, it was outstanding to meet you guys from the board: ms. yvon, paul, vespa, pennylane, murph, reenie, lisa, the dark, ghosts, dave, and those I'm forgetting. So great to meet new friends who share the same passion I do for this music! Hope to see you guys again at other shows (Louisville, Red Rocks) and meet some more interweb folks!

ultravisitor · Jun 24, 2008, 01:44 PM

QuoteOh well, I guess it is our luck and congrats to the guy who said he got tickets on row 20 about ten minutes before the show - you should buy a lottery ticket my man!

That's totally not an uncommon occurrence. When shows sell out, there are almost always good seats held back that are put on sale the day of the show and only obtainable at the box office.

YouAre_GivenToFly · Jun 24, 2008, 01:46 PM

Quote
QuoteOh well, I guess it is our luck and congrats to the guy who said he got tickets on row 20 about ten minutes before the show - you should buy a lottery ticket my man!

That's totally not an uncommon occurrence. When shows sell out, there are almost always good seats held back that are put on sale the day of the show and only obtainable at the box office.

This happened to me back in '06 at a Pearl Jam show. I was a club member and I went upto the window to pick up my member seats, the guy at the window next to me buys tickets about 20 rows in front of me.

blueskyink · Jun 24, 2008, 03:16 PM

Sorry if this has already been posted but I am at work and don't really have time to surf through pages, has a good boot of this show surfaced?

dasmondhaschen · Jun 24, 2008, 03:23 PM

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2008/06/24/more-rock-less-talk.html#entry-more

Vanity Fair write-up.

AMightyCaporal · Jun 24, 2008, 03:32 PM

QuoteSorry if this has already been posted but I am at work and don't really have time to surf through pages, has a good boot of this show surfaced?

the recording is up, it has its own thread, called radio city taping or RCMH taping or something to that effect

blueskyink · Jun 24, 2008, 03:56 PM

Thanks, I'm an idiot, today is an off day for me. I just went over to the taping section and found.

InTheZone · Jun 24, 2008, 09:43 PM

just wanted to throw this out there -- Evil Urges makes a lot more sense to me after seeing the RCMH show. i loved EU when i first listened to it, but i was somewhat suspiscious (ha) that my appreciation for EU may have been remotely influenced by my "MMJ is god" perspective towards life in general. basically i loved EU but i couldn't really say why - people who said that some songs didn't fit, or that it was a thin album in the middle, i couldn't really respond to them. i had faith that it would come to me though, and after RCMH i now know how well EU complements and builds on the rest of their catalogue. thats all i've got. you can take it in, you can throw it back, whatever you want to do with it.

EgoTesticle · Jun 24, 2008, 10:32 PM

Until the day of the show, the house may not know exactly what seats will or won't be available until the set-up is done .... Speakers, soundboard, lighting board, etc. .......

Which is why it is always smart to look for tix the day of the show before going to a scalper ......

kev · Jun 24, 2008, 11:16 PM

I guess I am confused on how the show can be "sold out" but there are still tickets available. Does the meaning of sold out not actually/technically imply every single ticket has been sold to someone (whether it was fans or scalpers or resellers etc...)?

Like I said, had a great freaking time and love the music and band (loving the music since I first heard of them back in 2002), just wish I could have sat closer instead of trying so hard to get tickets early through ticketmaster and only being able to get them a couple of weeks later, after it was allegedly "sold out", and being on the very last row.

ultravisitor · Jun 25, 2008, 02:13 PM

QuoteI guess I am confused on how the show can be "sold out" but there are still tickets available. Does the meaning of sold out not actually/technically imply every single ticket has been sold to someone (whether it was fans or scalpers or resellers etc...)?

Pretty much. There is almost always a block of tickets held back for whatever reason.

Bigsky · Jun 25, 2008, 02:41 PM

doEVILslittle · Jun 25, 2008, 06:12 PM

a shit ton of new pictures are up on flickr.... this one is still my favorite

it's heavenly...

Penny Lane · Jun 25, 2008, 06:26 PM

wow--spiritual

ms. yvon · Jun 27, 2008, 02:36 AM

bigEVIL-thanks for all the clips! just enough flavor to put me back at the show!

cool things that occur: last sunday i was wearing my wizzard custom "ba-ba-bananas" fillmore nye commemorative t-shirt. while i was waiting outside a breakfast place in brooklyn, a woman came out and was looking at me. she walked right up to me and said, "how...who gave you that shirt?" turns out, she is a friend of wizzard's, was at the rcmh show AND fillmore show!

totally made my day!

as the saying goes: come for the music, stay for the peeps. :D

Radio City Music Hall June 20, 2008

dasmondhaschen