concert 1; chicago, huey lewis & the news

on sunday carmen, steve and i went down to the journal pavilion to watch chicago and huey lewis and the news. it was FUN! :) here's what i thought.

i'm not really familiar with most of huey lewis' songs, but he and his band were really good entertainers. they had about an hour and a half set, and they played "new drug" and "back in time" and a really nice acapella version of "it's alright", and of course "the power of love" brought down the house. i noticed on some songs (like "if this is it", for example) that huey wasn't hitting the high notes very well, but he was very energetic running around (and jumping around) the stage, and he tore it up on the harmonica. steve was stoked. you should have seen him.

HL&TN played songs that were more upbeat and, well, concert-ish, but there was no question that most people were there to see chicago. the audience was very appreciative of huey and was really responsive to the music, but... during one of his songs his brass section slowed waaaaaaay down and started playing the riff to "does anybody really know what time it is," and the crowd went wild.

the two bands really complemented each other, and they worked together well. HL&TN brought out bill from chicago to sing and play guitar during one of their last songs, and he was awesome. unlike huey, he had no problem hitting some really high notes, and it was sweet. he reminded me of when i went and saw yes, and steve howe was ancient but still the best guitar player i'd ever seen. and again, at the beginning of chicago's set, a voice offstage started singing, and huey and the rest of his band walked on and sang along with chicago for a song or two. the two bands looked like they really liked singing with each other.

chicago's set was mostly filled with their more up-beat songs, and they left out most of their slow mushy stuff. they started with "make me smile." carmen swears she heard "you're the inspiration," but i must have missed that. even without most of the slow songs, they're not what you really call mosh pit music, so the concert was mostly just chill. it was a lot more like a jam session than a show, but it was still really enjoyable. the songs from their new album, XXX (as in thirty, okay?) sound a lot like their older material, which i think is a good thing. they have the same style that they had back in the day, and even if you've never heard the songs before, they still sound familiar.

albuquerque's journal pavilion isn't my favorite venue. i like the sandia casino ampetheater a lot, but it was still nice. it has regular seating and then a big hill that's covered in grass. people pay about twenty bucks for "lawn seats" and sit out on the grass with their blankets and picnic baskets and stuff. a couple times the bands dedicated a song to "all the people out there on the grass!" i think that one was "saturday in the park." appropriate.

it was a really nice show.