It’s been a good year for live music. In June, my wife and friends and I saw Alan Parsons at Levitt Pavilion in Denver. A client, RØDE Microphones of Sydney, Australia, knows Alan, so we met him and the band after the concert. The entire evening was a great experience. In July, a friend and I saw the Robert Cray Band at the relatively small but impressive Washington’s music venue in Fort Collins. The blues guitarist and singer gave a solid performance. Last month, we saw Blondie at NewWestFest in Fort Collins. Like Alan Parsons, Blondie was especially popular in the mid 1970s with a number of hits.
Last night, my wife and I, and ~45,000 others, were treated to several hours of music at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. The concert started in the late afternoon with the Doobie Brothers—a band I’ve always wanted to see. Zac Brown followed, and both were excellent. Zac definitely attracted a younger generation to the stadium.
The highlight of the evening was seeing and hearing the Eagles for the first time, another band I’ve always wanted to see. As expected, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmidt were a central part of the performance. The only unfortunate part of it was not seeing Glenn Frey (he died in January 2016 at the young age of 67), but we were treated to Glenn’s 25-year-old son, Deacon. He and country singer and songwriter Vince Gill sang Glenn’s songs, and both did a great job. Like his father, Deacon is an outstanding musician and vocalist. He became a permanent member of the band more than a year ago.
I’m finding that one should not wait too long to see an artist or band. I wanted to see Tom Petty, but that will never happen. It also occurred to me that rock ‘n roll groups are not emerging like they did in the past. In fact, it’s difficult to name even three that have become popular in the past 10 years. For our generation, now is the time to see live classic rock before it’s too late.