Active Viewin': rock nyc Concert Picks Week Of June 30th, 2014
Mike Love And Friends
Obviously, Mike Love’s Beach Boys is not Brian Wilson’s Beach Boy; the latter is a nostalgia based harmony art pop band, the former a nostalgia act for baby bomers. So if you are going to see Mike Love’s version, don’t expect transcendence, expect old guys thinking young guys songs so old couples can singalong and maybe their kids can join. On July 5th, at Jones Beach, maybe that’s what we want, memories of when we could have fun all summer long instead of working every summer for the past 40 odd years.
Monday – Alice Smith – Bowery Ballroom – Smart r&b chick takes too long between hits but is still dark and lovely often enough t make up for it.
Monday – Beck – Hammerstein Ballroom – I didn’t think that much of Morning Phase, I guess “Heart Is A Drum” was pleasant enough. And he was OK when I saw him opening for Dylan last year. Man, at the Supper Club on the Odelay tour. he was a young while James Brown.
Monday – Richard Thompson Electronic Trio – Iridium – He has a new album and it is, of course, lousy but live he should be still a great guitarist with a strong catalog
Tuesday – Billy Joel – Madison Square Garden – He sucked the last time I saw him (New Year’s Eve) but wrong place, wrong time. I am gonna catch him again in October but then again I may just be crazy.
Yeah, is this a quiet week, the days are wrong on all these gigs (and Jones Beach is wrong as a rule of thumb).
