DMB in Milan

Last night we caught the Dave Matthews Band at the Palasharp stadium in Milan. It was my first time at this venue and from outside, it looked pretty ugly - a big ol' slab of concrete. But my excitement grew after we entered. It was small! We didn't have any problems finding seats that were close to the stage, around 10th row to the right of the stage. The view was fantastic compared to the last time I saw them at Shoreline in Mountain View. I could see their faces, no screens required.

And as usual, they did not dissapoint and played a fantastic show. In addition to the core band members, they also had Jeff Coffin, an amazing saxophone player and Rashawn Ross, a talented trumpet player. All together, DMB sounded as good I remembered, probably even better.

Dave was in a good mood, joking with the crowd about Italian food, wine and women. I really had a great time. Now being in Europe, I'm missing out on concerts in general but getting to see DMB in such a small venue?  Priceless.

 

Proudest Monkey
Satellite
You Might Die Trying
Funny The Way It Is
Seven
Squirm
Crash (Into Me)
So Damn Lucky
Lying In the Hands of God
Why I Am
Dancing Nancies
Shake Me Like a Monkey
Jimi Thing
Burning Down The House
You and Me
Don't Drink the Water
__________________
Baby Blue
Everyday
Ants Marching

Coldplay in Milan

We had a little excitement a few days ago. Coldplay was in town! We had bought tickets way back in June, so this day couldn't come soon enough. I had last seen them 2 years ago at the Shoreline and I couldn't wait to see them again.

The ticket buying experience was a rather frustrating one. On the morning tickets went on sale, the TicketOne website went berserk. It was impossible to get tickets. After an hour, we had to give up and head to work. Luckily, Marcello came to the rescue and managed to purchase tickets for us while we were driving to work. I was willing to take any seat - just get me into that show!

Turns out we ended up with general admission tickets to the floor. I was excited... if I got there early enough, I could be up close to the stage. And it sure didn't hurt that the venue was DatchForum, only 15 mins walk from work. I left work a little after 5pm that evening. Stef had meetings and had to join me later, but I was determined to get a good spot. There were already at least 200 people in line when I got there. I stayed in line people-watching. Well, mostly watching people sneakily cut the queue... but this was Italy, what else did I expect?


When the doors opened at 7pm, I squeezed into the crowds and finally made my way inside. I had to forget front row, but I managed to stake out a spot on the 'front row' next to the right stage. I was pretty happy. ;-) When Stef finally joined me, he was grumbling about 'not being able to breathe'. But he changed his mind soon enough.


The show was AMAZING...


The crowds were so full of energy, singing along to all the songs... these were real fans!


Then a nice surprise, the band played a couple songs on the side stage right in front of us, just a few meters away.


The setlist that night:

Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Speed Of Sound
Cemeteries Of London
Chinese Sleep Chant
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (techno version)
Talk (techno version)
Don't Panic (acoustic)
Reign Of Love (acoustic)
Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
Viva La Vida
Lost!
The Scientist (acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
------
Politik
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
-------
Yellow
Shiver (acoustic)
The Escapist

Chris Martin was awesome.


At one point thousands of paper butterflies fell from the ceiling. It was a magical feeling.


It was an exhilarating experience. The best 48 euro I ever spent!


When are they coming back??


Now the sky could be blue
I don't mind
Without you
It's a waste of time

REM: Arena Civica, Milano, 7/26/08

Ahhh... what a beautiful night of music!

Last night we were fortunate enough to be at REM's concert at Milan's Arena Civica, which is an old open-air stadium in the middle of the city. Our seats were not that close, but I had no complaints at all. The view and the sound was still very good.


The opening band was the Editors, an English band I think. They sounded pretty good, very U2-like. I've never heard of them, but apparently they get played on Italian radio quite a bit.


REM came on a little past 9pm. I found out that the time printed on the tickets (in this case 21.00) is the time the actual act comes on, not when the opening acts going on, like in the U.S. They played a great show, with many of their well-loved classics. The band seemed to love us too as we were treated with a 6-song encore!



Living well
Animal
Kenneth
Wake up bomb
Leaving New York
Ignoreland
So fast so numb
Man sized wreath
Electrolite
Walk unafraid
The great beyond
I've been high
Let me in
Fall on me
Accelerate
The one I love
Horse to water
Bad day
I'm gonna dj
Imitation of life
Orange crush
Supernatural superserious
Losing my religion
Country feedback
Hollow man
Driver 8
Man on the moon

The Italian fans were loving it! When they played Losing My Religion, I was impressed how everyone around us suddenly seemed to acquire excellent English speaking skills. Everyone knew the words and was singing along. ;-)



Here's a video clip of the encore closer, Man on the Moon. You can see a little bit of the venue here.

It was an awesome concert. The weather was great with a slight breeze in the warm summer night. We had liberally sprayed ourselves with mosquito repellant beforehand so were spared from any mosquito bites.

Another funny thing I noticed was that while they were selling official band merchandise (t-shirts, etc) inside the venue, when we walked out after the concert ended, we were greeted with dozens of stalls selling 'unofficial' merchandise. There were all varieties of REM and REM European Tour t-shirts. Unbelievable.


Then we were hungry so we walked over to a cute creperie/bar/cafe in Brera for a midnight snack. We had one with proscuitto and tomatoes, and another with grand marnier orange liquor. Yummy! A perfect way to end the night.

#remberlin

Kanye West: Harder, better, faster, stronger

Another concert at San Jo's HP Pavilion; thanks to S for finding tickets.

The night started out with Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. and Rihanna as opening acts. Now, I can't say I'm really a hip hop music expert. I can recognize songs, but I'm not very good at telling the artists apart or knowing who sings what. Rihanna gave a pretty good performance, with backup dancers and all that.



My one complaint was that it took way too long for each band to set up. Lupe, N.E.R.D. and Rihanna all performed for 3o minutes. And it was 30 minute wait between acts. Next thing you know, it was 10pm and Kanye wasn't even on yet. It's too late for someone old like me. ;-)

And yeah, I was feeling pretty old. I was definitely on the other end of the age range in the crowd. haha.

Then finally Kanye came on, crashing in on some unidentified planet. That was the story line for his show... Kanye on the journey to finding his way home. Kinda lame, I thought.

But the music was good and full of energy. Fun!

Bon Jovi: Livin' on a Prayer

We've got to hold on to what we've got
'Cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.
We've got each other and that's a lot for love -
We'll give it a shot.

We're half way there - Livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it
I swear - livin' on a prayer.


BON JOVI rocks!!!!!!

Last week, I got to relive my first concert experience. And it was a rock concert, no less! I was 17 and in love. Bon Jovi played at the Shah Alam stadium in Malaysia and I remember tickets were RM50. It was such an awesome night... I knew all the words.

And thirteen years later, here I was at the San Jose arena, singing along at the top of my lungs. It felt like a trip down memory lane. And I swear, Mr. Jon Bon Jovi himself has not aged one bit! He looks... the same! Amazing. It was a good show.

Monster Truck Jam

Who goes to these things anyway?

The Monster Truck Jam was in town at Oakland a few weeks ago. We were curious and it seemed like a cool thing to see, so a bunch of us decided to go. The weekend rolled around and it had been raining all week. We had the tickets and the show was on, rain or shine. We were determined to see these trucks!

And so that's how we found ourselves on a cold rainy Saturday night, sitting in our cheap 2nd level seats with no cover at the Oakland Coliseum where the Raiders usually play. It was really pouring! Luckily Andy had brought extra ponchos which Jess put on, and I scrunched my legs under to keep my jeans dry.

We could definitely hear the monster trucks going even from outside the stadium. It was really loud and those earplugs came in handy. They had trucked in a bunch of dirt/mud and from where we were sitting the trucks didn't seem thaaat big (although they sure sounded big).

The first half of the show, trucks raced each other around the course two at a time. It was ok... not too exciting.



Then it was the freestyle 'competition'. Each truck had like a couple minutes to show off in front of the judges. Who knows who these judges were? That's when we got to see some big jumps as the trucks went over piles of old cars. It still wasn't quite like what we saw on tv.

But we die-hard fans (haha) stayed on. It never stopped raining and I had water dripping off my eyelashes. I watched people buy food and try to eat in the rain. Nachos + rainwater = ?

The finale was I believe, the Grave Digger truck. The winning move? When the truck tried to attempt an impossible route over a pile of old cars, couldn't make it... and flipped over on its back... There were some flames coming out from under the truck amid all the cheers. And finally we could go home. What an experience. One I don't think we'll be repeating anytime soon.

Make A Memory

I'm back to blogging... I think. I've been lazy for too long, and lots has happened since. The days seem to fly by, but at times the minutes are barely ticking along.

Listening to Bon Jovi's latest album, Lost Highway, and it brings back memories. I was 17, and so excited to attend my first concert ever. Bon Jovi was coming to town and playing at the Shah Alam stadium in Malaysia. I could remember it like it was yesterday.