In the past seven days.....

I have been to two concerts. Both were very different from each other, very different.

Saturday night I attended a show at Croc Rock with my girl and a group of friends. We saw Rev Theory, Trapt and Hinder - all three very loud, modern rock bands.

After waiting in line halfway around the block to get into the club we finally got inside. There was an unlisted opening band and I am not sure who it was as we missed them entirely. Soon after entering the packed venue, Rev Theory came out. Although I never heard of them I thought they were really good. I have since heard them on the radio and may buy the cd.

(taken with my cell phone)

Trapt (above), after overcoming initial guitar technical difficulties, put on a really good show and sounded tight and polished. They had a lot of energy and crowd loved them. I found it somewhat disheartening that they were opening for Hinder. I had seen Trapt a few years earlier opening for Seether (@ Croc) and I thought they were really good then. Here they were, opening again..... the nature of the biz I suppose.

(taken with my cell phone)

Hinder (above) took the stage and the over-heated crowd went wild. They opened with their recent hit, "Use Me". The band sounded great, light show was awesome for a smaller venue and the crowd ate it up. For me personally, I could not stay in the room through the whole show..... it was way too hot and uncomfortable. I later described the feeling as being like 'sardines in a sauna.' We got out of there before they were totally done to beat the traffic mess getting out of there. It was a good show but we had had enough.

So as a result of a conversation that night I was able to acquire a pair of tickets for my second show of the week, YES (below) at the Sovereign Center in Reading. I did say two very different shows. I had never been to this venue before so I had no idea what to expect. I had seen Yes 20 years earlier at Stabler Arena with Trevor Rabin on guitar. This time it was Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Oliver Wakeman (Rick's son) and Benoit David (their new singer). I took a long time friend of mine who I knew loves the band and I owe him a favor, possibly hundreds more.

(taken with my cell phone)

To say they were awesome would be an understatement if ever there was one. Benoit David is no doubt genetically linked to Jon Anderson as he steeped into his shoes perfectly. The genetic link of the younger Wakeman to his father was quite apparent as well. He played everything as if he had written it, he did a beautiful job. Steve Howe and Chris Squire both performed some of their solo material, a song or two, which were great as well.

The venue, the Sovereign Center in Reading, was incredible. I had no idea I was going to see Yes in a theater environment! I was one row from the last row and was able to clearly see facial expressions of everyone on stage.... from the comfort of my seat. I would recommend seeing a show there to anyone who has never been there, it is a great venue.

They performed Siberian Khatru, All Good People, Tepus Fugit, Onward, Astral Traveller, Close to the Edge, Parallels, And You and I, Long Distance Runaround / the Fish, Machine Messiah, Starship Trooper & Roundabout. There was also in there an Alan White drum solo - quite impressive, a Steve Howe acoustic solo which was beautiful. I may have missed a song or two but I don't think so other than the Squire solo number. Steve Howe's acoustic solo was actually two of his solo tracks, names unknown.

So to sum it up.... two shows in a weeks time. I felt a little old at one and among the younger at the other, LOL I have come to the decision that I prefer a show that when I but a ticket it comes with a seat. I don't mind it loud and rockin, I just prefer to sit and enjoy it rather than fight for position on the floor and stand there all night. When I was in my teens-20's I loved being pressed against the barricade at the Allentown Fairgrounds, not anymore.

See the link below for proof of my barricade hugging days....

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/ItzMeDave1/Slideshows/?action=view&current=accba41f.pbw

All photos in the slde show were taken by me as a young teen with a JCPenney 110 camera.

I wanted to post the slide show here but I couldn't quite figure it out, oh well!