I went to see him in Uniondale, NY. The traffic was trying getting there, so dinner was rushed.
The parking at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was steep: $30, on top of the $174 that I already paid for tix. Thats like what you pay for parking in Manhattan. I didn't realize it would be so expensive before I got there, or I would have investigated alternatives.
Then we went in and found our seats. I had chosen seats on the floor, because they were near the secondary stage and I hoped we would get a better concert experience there.
Unfortunately, I soon noticed that they were flashing stage lights on us there from the row of lights near the ceiling over the stage. That was unpleasant. I really didn't want bright lights flashed in my eyes. It's painful and i don't think it's good for my eyes. There should have been some warning when I bought the tickets that there would be bright lights flashing.
Fortunately, there were quite a number of empty seats, so my friend and I went up to sit on the side. That had a better view anyway. Though our original seats were near the second stage, our view of the second stage would have been blocked by the audio people, who were seated high up -- even with and in front of the second stage. We still got some lights shining in our eyes on the side -- but less often and smaller beams.
Basically, I hated Jennifer Nettles' performance. Like Idina Menzel at MSG last year, Nettles was way too loud -- but worse still she was playing a style of country music that I really don't like. Fortunately, she has a nice voice, that I really like, unlike Idina, but the music that accompanies the voice is just as important -- and that was not to my taste at all.
I tweeted Josh that I was unhappy.
One of those self-appointed Grobie police people tweeted back that I should give Jennifer Nettles some love or leave the arena.
I wasn't about to leave the arena after paying $174 plus $30 for parking plus driving for an hour and a half in heavy traffic -- not to mention that I drove my friend there as well, and she would have been disappointed to leave. I told the tweep #myob, but she kept on, so I blocked her. The second person I've blocked in as many days. I used to argue, patiently, with these people, but no more. Just block them, but not happily.
So I was in a pretty sour mood, when Josh started.
Unfortunately, he was too loud as well, just as he had been at MSG. It's not just me with the sensitive ears who thought so. Others who went to those concerts also told me that they thought it was too loud.
I ended up wearing ear plugs most of the time. I took them off when Josh was on the secondary stage and for the encore.
I did calm down some when he was performing because I do like his music, tho it was disappointing to have to use ear plugs to listen to it.
He was in good voice. I didn't notice any particular problem with his singing, which was a problem in some previous years, as I've documented in previous blogs.
He was wearing a bright orange suit. That was odd for me. He's always been very restrained in his dress: modest, dark colors, casual. He seems to have changed quite a bit in personality over the years. I'm not sure what that's about -- not that I mind him wearing an orange suit. He can wear whatever he likes, so far as I'm concerned -- but it's just a total departure from his past self.
It reminds me of an article that I read once that said that people tend to wear brighter colors as they age. The author of that article speculated that it was an ancient instinct developed to distract predators from younger members of a tribe or family. That author likened it to fish who swim in schools, where the older members instinctively swim on the outside of the school, so they can be picked off by predators, while preserving the younger members.
I did notice a YouTube video of Neil Diamond playing a concert when he was over 70, where he was wearing a sequined shirt, after having been fairly restrained in his dress as a younger man. I noticed that both Idina Menzel and Jennifer Nettles, who are over 40, performed with lots of sequins....But Josh is only 37 -- hardly an old man. I hate to think of him that way, but I have to recognize that he's been performing for 20 years -- and that desire to be bright and distracting on stage is overtaking him. Scary. No sequins for Josh yet, but likely in a few years....
That reminds me as well how modest he used to be as a younger person, never letting anyone see his arms or legs -- yet in the past year or so he tweeted out a photo of himself in a swimsuit on an inflatable swim toy in a pool. Surprising to someone who has been following him for a while -- not that it's bad. His extreme self-consciousness in the past was a bit peculiar, but still it's a change.
Interestingly, also, during one of his monologs he again commented on the tendency of fans to fondle his butt during meet & greets. His ongoing discomfort with being fondled has been a recurring theme during his concert monologues -- and is one of the reasons that he no longer goes glad handing in the audience -- or at least not as much as he used to. Yet, this time he said he was ok with it. Curious.
Of course, his music has changed somewhat also. His collaboration with David Foster was characterized by intellectually interesting and complex arrangements, often with modern classical influences.
Now he's going for a more stereotypical sound. He seems to have always had some kind of jealousy towards mainstream pop, rock, and country performers. His engaging people like Idina Menzel (rock) and Jennifer Nettles (country) and that underwhelming Hutchinson guy during the Stages tour typifies that strange feeling that somehow he wants to fit in with the mainstream and get those Grammys (sp?). I'm not buying it. I liked the more complex music. I'm not impressed with the music that gets Grammys. The only opening act that I've seen with Josh that I liked was @elew
Josh did play the piano some, but not the drums.
I was pleased to see Ruslan Sirota, whose playing I very much admire. Unfortunately, I couldn't really appreciate him with the ear plugs on.
I was very pleased to see Tariqh again. He's been the most reliable of Josh's band, but, recently, there was a TV appearance with a totally substandard substitute guitarist. That served to bring to my attention how much Tariqh, who is or has been the chair of the guitar department of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, contributes to Josh's sound.
The one really bright spot for me in this concert was the violin solo for You Raise Me Up (YRMU). Josh used a local violinist who was an ordinary looking middle aged women -- not someone young and sexy. In the past, I've been critical for Josh not using older women in his choirs and orchestras. The women always had to be young, beautiful, and shapely. She played the solo perfectly nicely, despite not being the cover girl type.
Afterwards, I bought a magnet at the merchandise table. I figured it would be a nice parting memento of my last Josh concert -- and the end of my 9 years of being a Grobanite. I proceeded to lose it almost immediately, as I think it fell out of my pocket in the bathroom -- kind of a final slap in the face after an unsatisfactory concert experience -- tho perhaps it was a sign from the universe that I wasn't going to get that bit of closure.
Anyway, I think this was the set list (written hastily during the concert, without much attention to capitalization. I might have missed something:)
Bigger than us
you are loved
won't look back
granted
pure imagination
oceano
musical interlude
Small stage
Wandering kind
She's always a woman to me
Duet
Where we belong fragment (improv with Ruslan and Jennifer -- humor)
You were always on my mind (cover)
alone again
bring him home
Back to main stage
Instrumental interlude
musica Del corazón
River
alla luce
99 years with Jennifer nettles
yrmu
Encore
Twya
Bridge over troubled waters
I'm puzzled that he's not performing "Symphony" on this tour. That was the first single released on this record, and it was one of my favorites -- also the most similar to his prior work. I guess, now that he's in a relationship he's happy with, those frustrated songs about rocky relationships aren't on the menu.
Another issue was that I tried to post on FOJG to set up a meet up before the concert. We used to do that all the time. The thread seemed to have been deleted. What? We're not allowed to meet for dinner now?
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BTW, I elected not to get tix to Josh's Tanglewood concert this summer, because the audio issues were so horrible there last time https://straightarrow372.blogspot.com/2014/08/tanglewood-83014.html
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