Justin Timberlake, Still Bringing It Back

Although I'm not what you'd call an avid concert goer (my last one was 2011), I do enjoy a good show, especially on the cheap. The missus was fortunate enough to win some concert tickets to the Justin Timberlake 20/20 Experience tour, and wasted no time letting me know just how excited I was to get to go with her to it. I was a little skeptical, but I obliged.

I still miss you, Simba.

The first thing I noticed actually happened hours before the concert. Facebook was straight blowing up with almost every 25-45 year old woman I knew in St. Louis talking about going to the concert. This was promising to be a cougar convention for the record books, and it did not disappoint. I'd estimate that 80% of the attendees fit the Courtney Cox Arquette-type. It was like a wedding where every guest was a drunken, single bridesmaid.

And an hour after the concert was meant to start, JT took the stage and you could simultaneously feel all of them going through puberty all over again. And that was before he entered the audience.

You know, on a floating stage thing.

We're lucky more ladies didn't slip.

The most interesting thing about this show was that it was a concert that wasn't even remotely about music. Just about the only time people sang along was when he belted out Bel Biv Devoe's Poison. Every other time he encouraged St. Louis to carry the chorus, St. Louis just sort of looked at each other like "we didn't know there was gonna be a quiz." Every one there was there to watch him dance. And dance he did.

He went on for 3 full hours and miraculously didn't even pit out his "Suit and Tie S*it." Speaking of sh--, he tried really hard to be grown up. Some full frontal on the jumbo-tron (not him), a bunch of swearing (where he sounded like the sort of person who doesn't do a lot of swearing). I'm sure this thrilled all of the parents who brought their pre-teens. Regardless, it was a great show. He's an entertainer.

U2 STL: A non-U2 fan's concert review

One of the hottest concerts this summer in Saint Louis just happenned on Sunday and not just because of the Heat Advisory. ZING! U2 graced Downtown St. Louis with their much anticipated 360 Tour. My wife and I bought tickets for this show way back in October. Neither one of us had been to a U2 concert and we figured it would be a good bucket-list concert for us to go to. My wife is a fan but hasn't really kept up withthe new stuf. So, she was excited about going. Then she got 7 months pregnant and the temperatures were in the upper 90s. So she didn't get to go. Its amazing the amount of stuff my wife is willing to give up and how much she didn't care that I went without her. I will have to make it up to her some day...

I must admit without her attending, I reeally didn't have much motivation to go other than to check it off the bucket-list and I just love paying $10 for a beer. So I sacked up and invited a buddy to the concert to give it a whirl. Do you feel sorry for me yet?

After a brief pre-party we made our way over to Busch Stadium. Neither one of us had ever heard an Interpol song before so we weren't in any hurry. As we walked up to the stadium that I have seen countless Cardinal games in, I got the sense that this was going to be a different expereince than a bunch of drunk hoosiers* and old people that the venue typically draws. *Quick note: in St. Louis a Hoosier is not a person from Indiana. See your typical Cardinals Hoosier here

No. On this muggy July night there was something different. Something bigger than just the Cardinals... A giant spider-claw like monster was eating people. In all seriousness, the atmosphere at this concert was incredible. I've never been to a concert where I felt like I was witnessing something really amazing. It was almost like Busch Stadium was planted in a city that was a lot cooler. I was just blown away that people would actually go through all the effort to construct such an amazing stage for such a ho-hum town. Typically concerts are at one of 2 places (Riverport Ampitheater & Scottrade Center). Trust me they aren't worth a hotlink to their sites. So it was really cool that this this was sitting in the middle of our town and that so many (what seemed normal) people came to see it.

[caption id="attachment_669" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="FEED ME!"][/caption]

Now that I have successfully "set the stage" as it were (I'm on a roll) I was pumped and ready to get my face melted by U2. Well I wouldn't say it got melted so much, but perhaps my eyebrows were slightly singed. I was surprised at how many songs I actually knew and really just how many years their music spans. They are icons, but I am still not crazy about their music. I am also not crazy about Bono using the claw monster as a political platform, but hey its for a good cause I guess. I will say the highlight of the night was when they broke into "Sunday Bloody Sunday." I'm not sure why exactly this song stuck out but it was great. The crowd was into it and everyone was screaming... and I knew the words.

 

I'll post a couple more pics from the concert & crappy video I shot from the concert. Also I thought I would be kind enough to provide their set list.

 

[caption id="attachment_675" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the 360 Screen was awesome"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_676" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yeah Party"][/caption]

I'm having issues imbedding the video, but you can go here to see it - https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0aKBFes6oQYbBqMdlPKnjQ?feat=directlink

U2 360 Tour – Set List
July 17, St. Louis: Busch Stadium

“Even Better Than the Real Thing”

“The Fly”

“Mysterious Ways”

“Until the End of the World”

“I Will Follow”

“Get On Your Boots”

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”/”Many Rivers to Cross”

“Stay”

“Beautiful Day”/”Space Oddity”

“Elevation”

“Pride”

“Miss Sarajevo”

“Zooropa”

“City of Blinding Lights”

“Vertigo”

“I’ll Go Crazy”/”Discotheque”/”Life During Wartime”/”Psycho Killer”

“Sunday Bloody Sunday”

“Scarlet”

“Walk On”

“One”

“Hallelujah”/”Where the Streets Have No Name”

“Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me”

“With or Without You”

“Moment of Surrender”

Source: http://fresh1025.radio.com/2011/07/18/u2-360-tour-in-st-louis-pics-and-set-list/2/

Wanted Dead or On Time

Dear Mr. Jovi,

My wife, having grown up largely in the 80s, is a huge fan of yours. As such, I bought her some concert tickets for Valentine's Day -- OK, OK, she picked them out, but I paid for them, and as I occasionally like to say after buying someone a nice gift, it's the money that counts. I was also excited about the concert, having spent way too much of my college and post-college life watching the Young Guns movies, a series in which you've played a part. As far as I can tell, you try your best to leave it out there for all of your fans, so I thought I'd offer a little feedback from one of your biggest fans (by weight).

Let's start -- as the concert did -- with the bad. The concert actually would have started pretty strong if only it had started on time. I understand your time is valuable. I understand that you want to let people who also have no respect for my time show when they will and still make it to their seats in plenty of time for your first raging guitar licks. I understand that every minute you aren't yet on stage you make a killing on concessions and merch. I don't care. Start on time. If you can't start on time, start within 15 minutes. If you are going to wait until 55 minutes after your scheduled start time, either get an opening act or offer me a partial refund. It would also be nice if you would start the concert with a song I had heard of. I know some people had heard of it. I'm not here to represent them. I'm looking out for number one, which in this case was my wife who also hadn't heard that song. I could probably look it up and figure out what it was, but it wasn't good enough for me to care about.

I liked that even in St. Louis they sold some non-
Anheuser-Busch
In-Bev beer, which is always a plus for me. I actually think Brett Michaels may have sold it to me, so plus one to you for staying more relevant. Your second song, "Bad Name" was rocking because I knew it, but fell a little flat because you didn't. I realize you have a lot of songs and lyrics to remember, but you've been singing this one since before the Simpsons went on the air, try to remember the words. Perhaps you just took your pre-trans-Atlantic flight Xanax too early? Either way, the "watermelon, watermelon" routine plays out significantly better in a karaoke bar than in front of a "new attendance record" crowd.

There were some things that were really awesome. When you had everyone sing the first verse of "Wanted" (singing all of the right words) it was really pretty stinking cool. I think it was "Wanted" anyway. It's been like a week.

It was also really, really impressive when you broke into some songs that weren't yours. "Pretty Woman", "Twist and Shout", and "Takin' Care of Business" all added a little something to the evening. And they really, really underscored what a showman you really are.

My favorite part was probably when you showed a montage of YouTube people rocking out to "Living on a Prayer" while you were singing "Living on a Prayer". It was just cool, it showed some fun and some technical savvy. After the slow start (and in spite of the keyboard player whose perm -- and the fact that he still plays the keyboard -- really made it seem like he was still living in the 80's) you brought the crowd to life by working so hard that by the end I was no longer all that pissed off that you started AN HOUR LATE which is no small feat considering how pissy I get about things happening late.

The one thing I can't forgive you for is not bringing along Richie Sambora, if just for I'll Be There For You. I don't care who you brought in to play guitar (he seemed perfectly serviceable), but if you aren't bringing Richie on tour (which I recognize was his own fault), you'd better bring a backup choir to just hit that part after you sing "I wish I'd seen you blow those candles out." It's blatantly un-American to not have that part rock out.

In closing, I'd just like to thank you for coming to St. Louis and rocking it out. But if you ever come back and you start on time I'm going to kill you (because I'm showing up an hour late).

Sincerely,

Jamie

P.S. If you could shave a couple bucks off of the beers that'd be super, too. $10 for 16 ounces of Miller Lite is a little steep for a "working man's" show.

P.S.S. If you ever talk to the girl who was sitting next to me who stood up and danced the whole time, please let her know I'm not mad at her, I'm just old and not a woman and so I wanted to sit down in the seat she was dancing in front of which just so happened to be mine. You can say bumping out a dancing girl ain't rock-and-roll. I'd say $60 for nosebleed seats isn't rock-and-roll either.

This may help you recognize her.