Peter Frampton on Stage in Asheville!

Peter Frampton. OK just to clear the air let me say the whole Christmas Jam ROCKED. If there was ever a fan of people like Jackson Browne, Bruce Hornsby, and the other people on the bill I am the one. But the star of the show was Peter Frampton!
And all you thought was he is this has-been aged rocker who has resorted to making funny insurance commercials?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiA-_p5QRJM
Not! OK I saw him on tour in the late 1970's with Gary Wright opening. He was awesome then. But if you step back and look at his resume you will find he has played in some awesome settings and his guitar work puts him in the rankings with the worlds best players. From the Beatles to the Stones to the Dead in between, Peter has been there. http://www.classicbands.com/frampton.html
On this night he bought the crowd to their feet as he started his second song. "Shotgun." It was awesome. "I Don't Need No Doctor"
featured some spectacular guitar work from the stage. And by the time Peter played "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" he had the whole place in his hands. If this was a battle of the bands, and it wasn't, he would have the blue ribbon.
That's my story and I am sticking to it. I got yer bootleg video right here...Dinosaur indeed.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2829872331427180767&hl=en

The Warren Haynes Christmas Jam 2007!!

Grace Potter and the Nocternals. http://www.gracepotter.com/
Photo Credit: Erin Brethauer

After Bruce Hornsby and Warren Haynes opened the show with a full choir from the stage, Grace Potter and her band took the stage. They were fun! I have already added them to my list of bands to go see again asap. Yes they rock.

After a long day of travel through the mountains and Christmas shopping in Biltmore Village http://www.biltmorevillage.com/ we ended our day in a Tapis bar a block from the Asheville Civic Center right off Walnut Street. After some really awesome food and wine we walked up a very steep hill towards the Civic Center as the steady rain fell. It was cold and very wet. The weather was supposed to go to snow in the morning with high winds. Tightly-packed isobars and snow will make for an interesting trek over Black Mountain on the return trip home.
But for now nothing could dampen this towns spirit as the whole town was loaded with people from all over the country gathering to hear a long night of some awesome music. Maybe it was just me but there was a buzz in the air!
We lined up outside the Civic Center as you always have to to get in. This is a sold-out general admission show so everyone comes early to get a good seat inside. It was a bit of a wait in a constant rain, thankfully somewhat covered by a roof overhead. You can see a picture of this, and the back of my head at this link.
http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=B0&Date=20071215&Category=ENT02&ArtNo=712150801&Ref=PH&Profile=1119&Params=Itemnr=10
The time flew as we talked to people from everywhere sharing our concert war stories with each other. For me this is always a big part of the fun of going to a show. Chicago, Seattle, New York, South Carolina, people were from everywhere! I think the secret is out, that is why it is so hard to get a ticket to this show.
As the doors flew open we all found a seat and got ready for one awesome evening. We were not disappointed. You can view some other photos and the set list at this link: http://www.xmasjam.com/2007/index.php?setlist=1

Dan Fogelberg.

I was in Asheville, North Carolina on the morning of December 16 trying to wake up from a late night at the Warren Haynes Christmas jam when I heard the word that Dan Fogelberg http://www.danfogelberg.com/ had died. I had known for a long time that he was fighting cancer but I had not heard any recent reports on his condition. I was very saddened to hear this news. When I hear things like this my mind will rewind to visions of all the places that I listened to his music. And there are quite a few.
Dan was an artist I started listening to way back in the 1970's. I collected a pile of his vinyl over time. Great music. Even though he continued to add new music his music will always make me feel the 1970's when I hear it. I still love the obscure stuff. Dan has some great music hidden on the B sides of his albums.
As 2007 ends and 2008 is now only hours away I think of one of Dan's classics. Same Old Lang Syne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKUBuLzDtJU
A new year with no Dan. Life is short ya'll, enjoy the day. Sail on Dan.

Here are a few of my year ending thoughts...

Man I haven't put many posts on this blog in the last few weeks. It has been a very busy time in many ways. Parties, concerts, reading, and listening to music...on and on...I have also been playing my guitars regularly the last few weeks. And I use the word "playing" very loosely. The holiday season always keeps me moving.
As I wrote a moment ago I have been listening to piles of new music and old. The dvd player has also been spinning some cool music video. I think I have listened to most all of the Joni Mitchell collection in the last month. I finished that tangent with a listen to a Christmas gift, her new "Shine" cd. The new Peter Frampton "Fingerprints" cd is very cool too. But I will not ramble about cds. My blog is not about talking about cds! But that Rolling Stones "Bigger Bang" dvd set is very nice! I watched that one Christmas Eve and the house was rocking! Two nights ago I watched an old dvd from Steely Dan. The Aja one. I should mention... One of the Dan backbones...Larry Carlton. He is the man....http://www.larrycarlton.net/ Go check out this video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfchN7G-oQk ..before I ramble...on to some other stories.....