Rolling Cef Concert Reviews

Volume II, Issue #6 (7/6/98)

Wallflowers, Better Than Ezra, Blink 182
June 21, 1998
Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA

Better Than Ezra is another band that has tried to sound more current, and they've actually done it well! I was blown away by charged up versions to many album tracks. Even a mellow song like Rosalita simply rocked! Another cool part of show was when the singer/guitarist pulled out three classic Rush riffs - Red Barchetta, The Spirit of Radio, and Fly By Night. I'm not sure where it came from, but I do know most of the crowd completely missed it.

As much as I like the Wallflowers, I didn't find them exciting to see live. They put on a good quality show -- so good in fact, it sounded exactly like the CD!

Blink 182 was a hit with the younger crowd, but I don't expect their hormone-bursting attitude to sustain their career for long.

Green Day was supposed to play, but had to cancel at the last minute due to the bass player's fractured skull injury. (A true punk band.)

Lilith Fair
June 24, 1998
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

After finding out two weeks before the show that Sheryl Crow decided to cancel, it was a real effort to justify the cost of the ticket. Overall, Lilith Fair was a pleasant atmosphere, even for males. The best part was no lines in the washrooms! The worst part was arriving at 4:45 to find the lawn already completely occupied.

My day started with a great view of Tara Maclean headlining the Village Stage. I've reviewed her before, and to avoid repeating myself, I'll just say she was sweet.

The highlight of the day was K's Choice headlining on the second stage. They absolutely kicked ass. The crowd loved "Not An Addict" and at the end of the song, Sarah Bettens, the lead singer, asked "was it as good for you as it was for me?" K's Choice were signing CD's after the show and I got Sarah to write "Steve, you're such an addict!"L

On the main stage, Indigo girls did an excellent cover of "Rockin' in the Free World", with guest singers Tara Maclean and K's Choice.

Although I like Natalie Merchant's music, her concert put me to sleep.

Sarah McLachlan's set was also uninteresting except for the songs I recognized.

At the end of the night, everyone came out for one song, which Tara Maclean carried beautifully to its finish.

Guinness Fleadh
June 28, 1998
Spartan Stadium, San Jose, CA

Considering this festival only traveled to three cities in 1998, it was well organized. The only real problem was the sound carrying from one stage to another. There were a lot of bands, of which I didn't even see half. Here are my comments on the ones I caught while running back and forth between the three stages.

I heard the last song of Noella Hutton. Her voice was incredible, and I'll have to catch her again.

Rubyhorse sounded like a decent pop band.

X is a re-united punk band from the 70's. It was a fun set, but they look too old to play punk.

John Lee Hooker mumbled his way through a set. The songs were barely recognizable and his comments between songs were totally indiscernible.

Wilco jumped from one musical style to another and was hard to get into.

Los Lobos started their set with some Spanish songs that sounded out of place, then settled into some Texas Blues that sounded really good.

Sinead O'Connor's voice sounded great, and her hit song "Nothing Compares To You" sounded as effective as it did when the song was originally released.

I made a point to catch Hayden's full set. Hayden has put together a versatile band for his current tour. He himself plays guitar and bass during the show. The bass player plays guitar and keys. The guitar/keyboardist plays drums. And the drummer plays bass and guitar! The songs were very mellow and it wasn't easy to like this band, but since they're different, I did.

Van Halen
July 5, 1998
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

With his new blond hair, Gary Cherone is starting to look a little more like the lead singer of Van Halen. Cherone proved to me that he deserves the new role. Sure he's not the macho lead singer who compliments the girls in the front row on their beautiful breasts, but he's got good stage presence and knows how to work a crowd. More importantly, his vocals were very strong -- in fact his voice sounded better live than on the CD! Cherone had no problem cranking out any Roth or Sammy numbers.

Van Halen played something from every album in their catalog. Every song sounded great, whether it was 10 years old or even 20 years old.

Eddie was "extreme"-ly jubilant. It's obvious that he still loves to play. He was also very appreciative of the crowd response, thanking the crowd several times, for what I assume was the acceptance of Van Halen 3.

I found Eddie's solo to be a bit short, but I liked his smooth transition out of, and back into, "A Year To The Day".

The rendition of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" was almost as good as the cover done by superGARAGE from Thorold, ON.

Monster Magnet opened. They sounded like crap and looked like a bunch of fools. I couldn't listen to more than one song, so I took off for a beer.

Van Halen Set List:

Unchained
Without You
One I Want
Mean Street
When It's Love
Fire In The Hole
Why Can't This Be Love?
Romeo Delight
Drum solo
Dance the Night Away
Feel Your Love Tonight
Humans Being
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Year To The Day
Guitar Solo
Right Now
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Josephina
Panama
Jump

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