Vince Cannova
Posted by Kitty Dunn on December 22, 2009
Bruce with Little Steven
Yesterday I told you about my 5 favorite Madison concerts of the decade. This new list includes shows that involved a bit of a road trip.
1. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, April 2000. I believe this was the first show in their”Y2K” tour. All four of them were in high spirits..and genuinely seemed to enjoy being around each other! At one point, Graham Nash put on a Cheesehead..and Neil called him shameless. The show ended with a rip it up version of “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Neil broke ALL the strings on his guitar!
2. Jeff Beck at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, March 2001. This was the second time I saw Jeff Beck, and was of course accompanied by my guitar player boyfriend, Mike, who was watching with binoculars to make sure he didn’t miss anything. We were in the 6th row. This is the first time I saw Jeff play his version of the Beatles “A Day in the Life,” which is nominated for a Grammy this year!
3)Paul McCartney at the United Center in Chicago, April 2002. Yeah, he’s cheesy, yeah, he’s over the top cute, but HE’S A BEATLE! Some idiot behind me was trying to ruin everything by talking through the whole thing, but I eventually got over that and let the music take over. I saw the same show a few months later in Milwaukee and it seemd kinda lame the second time…but I was in full-on Beatlemania in Chicago.
4)Sonny Landreth at the Monroe Blues Festival in Monroe, WI, September, 2007. I’ve seen Sonny a bunch of times, but this was by far the best. I was standing right up front for a great view of his slide guitar wizardry.
5)Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, November 2009. Now I know what all the hype is about! When he was body-passed through the crowd to the stage on the 3rd song, I knew something special was about to happen. And he played “Kitty’s Back,” especially for me. This might be the best show I’ve ever seen.
Here’s Jeff Beck playing “A Day in the Life” at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007…a concert I should have attended.
