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2015 CONCERTS BLOG
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Bob Seger at Sleeptrain
Arena, Sacramento CA
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March 9, 2015
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Definitely a bucket list concert! The
initial concert date was moved from March 3rd to March 9th which was
a Monday and a difficult day to go see a concert but well worth the
inconvenience! Robert Clark "Bob" Seger (born May 6, 1945)
is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist. As a
locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded
throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the
"System" from his recordings and continued to strive for
broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together
the Silver Bullet Band, a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom
he became most successful on the national level with the album Live
Bullet, recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo
Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout
with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also
worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals
Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's
best-selling singles and albums. Sleeptrain Arena is a venue we
frequent often and traffic can be busy, but we find it's best to
just wait it out for a half and hour or so in the venue and not
fight the crowds. Once things get going the parking lot clears
fairly quickly. The concert was absolutely fabulous. We heard every
song we ever knew and loved by this band. The vocals and the
instrumentation were phenomenal and it is hard to believe that Bob
Segar is almost 70 years old and the quality of his voice sounds the
same as it did back in the 70's when we first began to follow his
music. He is legend and we would love to see him play again!
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Garth Brooks at
Sleeptrain Arena, Sacramento CA
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March 28, 2015
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Troyal Garth
Brooks (born February 7, 1962), best known as Garth Brooks, is an
American country music singer-songwriter. His eponymous first album
was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album
chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Brooks' integration of rock elements into his recordings and live
performances earned him immense popularity. This progressive
approach allowed him to dominate the country single and album charts
while crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.
Another bucket list concert! Garth Brooks
brings is personal and engaging with the audience along with ageless
vocals and songs. The light show, the pyrotechnics.. everything was
amazing. He is an entertainer above entertainers. The events
scheduled at the Sleeptrain Arena were all sell outs which prompted
Garth to add more shows at this venue. He had not played in this
area in over 20 years and he made huge strides to make all of his
fans happy. Garth played continuously for about 2 hours with a
short break in between in which Tricia Yearwood took over the stage
for about 30 minutes to give him a rest. She was was also fabulous!
This particular night he had 2 back to back shows planned and
scheduled within an hour of each other. We heard this show played on
until 1am. This was a total WOW SHOW!! Seeing him again.. Yes
Please! We hope everyone has a chance to experience this
iconic performer!
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Boz Scaggs at The Gallo
Center, Modesto, CA
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May 24, 2015
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Born in Texas and raised with an abiding
respect for a wide spectrum of American roots music, Boz Scaggs has
combined rock, jazz, R&B and blues to create a trademark sound.
His extensive and distinctive career spans 30 years and many
accolades, with such memorable hits as “Lido Shuffle,”
“Lowdown,” and many others that will be showcased in his first
performance at the Gallo Center since 2012. Scagg's latest album,
“A Fool to Care,” will be released March 31. We sat in our
favorite seats which are on the second level balcony and were
provided with comfortable club chairs, which is worth about $30
extra dollars, but so worth it as you are not in a row of set
seating which can be crowded and annoying with people climbing over
you to get in and out of their seats. We thou roughly enjoyed this performance.
The venue at the Gallo Center is beautiful and the staff and ushers
which are comprised primarily of local volunteers are amazing. They
carry a decent selection of beer, wines and soda at these venues and
no food is allowed. The sound in the Gallo Center is top notch.
There are a number of restaurants, pubs, cigar lounges and bars all
within walking distance and we enjoy staying at the Double Tree
Hilton which is only 3 blocks away and also has a bar, restaurant
and lovely accommodations.
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Tesla and Y&T
at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA
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June 13, 2015
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| Tesla is an American rock band formed in
Sacramento, California in late 1981 by bassist Brian Wheat and
guitarist Frank Hannon as City Kidd. Lead vocalist Jeff
Keith, drummer Troy Luccketta and guitarist Tommy Skeoch joined them
by 1984. By 1986, the band had changed its direction under a new
name: |
| "Tesla". In 1996, the band disbanded, with members
devoting themselves to solo projects. In 2000, they had reformed,
but Tommy Skeoch departed the band in 2006 due to substance abuse,
and was replaced by Dave Rude. They have sold 14 million albums in
the United States.Thunder Valley is always a great venue.
It's easy access off the freeway to get to the casino. Even though
they have a designated parking lot for concert goers we prefer to
use the parking garage attached to the casino. There are also
shuttles available from local hotels such as the Holiday Inn in
Roseville which is where we stayed and they also have Lyft and Uber
service readily available. The event was very well organized with
entry lines divided by setting section which prevents too long of
lines to wait in when entering the venue. We have seen Tesla perform
several times before and they consistently do an outstanding job and
play the all the old school music that we know and love. Y&T
played an exceptional set and we were also pleased by hearing the
familiar songs that we knew and loved back in the 80's. |
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Nickelback Shoreline Amphitheatre,
Mountain View, CA CANCELLED
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June 24, 2015
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This concert was cancelled via email
message on June 23rd. It was unfortunate and costly for us as we
purchased a hotel room near the event and were not refunded for a
room costing over $200 which required a 24 hour notice. he hotel
owners at the Vagabond Inn Sunnyvale offered
us no credit, no option to use the room on another date or to
transfer the night to another hotel. Pretty much a huge and costly
disappointment! This experience has left us a little gun shy about
purchasing rooms ahead of times when attending venues where we
choose to spend the night. After some research and talking with
friends we discovered that there are some hotel chains such as Best
Western Inn's that will allow you to transfer your stay if you must
cancel on short notice. In the future, this is worth the extra
effort of a phone call to the hotel prior to booking. As far as
Nickelback, there was no problem with a credit back for the event
and we've seen them play 2 times previously in 2009 and 2010 at the
Sleeptrain Amphitheatre in Wheatland. Always and outstanding show with pyrotechnics
and the band on point. We will purchase tickets again should they go
on tour but would never consider staying in the Vagabond
Inn Sunnyvale, which quite honestly, didn't look as though it would
have met our standard for hotels anyway but it was in our price
range and ok for a quick night stay.
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Alice In Chains at
Thunder Valley Casino, Lincoln, CA
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July 25, 2015
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Jackson Brown at
Harvey's Lake Tahoe, NV
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August 7, 2015
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| We have always big
Jackson Brown fans since the early 80's and this was our
first time catching one of his events. We were really
looking forward to this venue since we have missed his
previous years of touring. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of
Famer played to a full crowd at Harvey's Lake Tahoe Outdoor
Arena Friday night, as thunderstorms and light showers
gradually gave way to a gorgeous golden-purple Lake Tahoe
sunset. |
| It was a beautiful but chilly
evening at Harvey's with clear skies, which is not unusual
for this time of year, so dress accordingly if you attend
this venue in the future. Jackson Brown and his band played
some excellent sets and focused mainly on newer music. Quite
honestly, we were disappointed with this, as 11 songs played
in a row of which we did not know. We were certainly in
hopes that we would hear all of our favorite songs from the
past and towards the end of the night they did play some
familiar tunes. Next time we will spend some time learning
some of the newer music to enrich our next concert
experience.
We stayed at the Lake
Tahoe Resort which is directly across the street from
Harvey's Casino. It is a great hotel for families and
singles as well. They have a nice restaurant and bar in the
Echo lounge. The rooms are spacious, with a wet bar and
living room separate from the bedroom and they offer a free
breakfast buffet in the morning which is pretty decent and a
happy hour in the evening. |
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3 Doors Down at Gallo
Art Center, Modesto, CA
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August 30, 2015
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Foreigner & Kid
Rock at Toyota Center, Wheatland, CA
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September 2, 2015
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| All we have to say is WOW! WOW!
WOW!.. Aint No "Kid"in what a ROCKER!. We had no
idea how talented and charismatic Kid Rock was going to be!
We've always liked a number of his songs but we were amazed
by his colorful performance. He is one of the best showman
we have seen! His talents are endless, he played two
different guitars, he switched to drums for a song, then he
moved onto a mix master set. All this while singing lead and
dancing. His energy captured the audience and was magnetic.
He played every song we knew and some that we forgot we
knew. Loved this performance and would see again any time. |
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Foreigner, we love every time we see them! This would make
about 4 times over the last 5 years. Mick Jones is an icon
in the band and although he's getting older his guitar
skills are right on point. The lead singer Kelly Hanson is
just as good as Lou Gramm in our book. We have seen them as
a headliner multiple times and we enjoy every minute of the
performance. Our seats were in a terrific spot, about 9 rows
back from the stage on the inside isle. Kelly came down from
the stage several times and interacted with the crowd even
giving us a high five twice! This event was too much fun! We
ended up staying in Yuba City at the Bonanza Inn Magnuson.
We've stayed here about 3 times previously and it is always
clean and about as good as it gets in the area. They do a
free breakfast in the dining room and it's a decent meal.
It's not always easy getting a ride to the events at
Wheatland. There is not Uber or Lyft service and the Taxi's
charge $50 for a one way trip. Once the concert is over..
it's a nightmare to get out of the parking lot. We've been
able to get a cab ridge back the last couple times, but it
took hours! There are only 2 exits and 1 entrance into this
amphitheatre. My personal choice is find another location.
the ride situation is very frustrating although seeing a
great concert makes it feel much better. We will be looking for
Kid Rock to make his rounds again, but we will most likely
not attend at this particular venue again. The whole parking
lot, get home thing is a deal breaker for us. |
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Foo Fighter at
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
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September 16, 2015
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| Dave Grohl, Foo
Fighters front-man, will always be remembered as the drummer
for Nirvana. But, drumming for a great band such as Nirvana.
This has been a long anticipated venue that we wanted to
attend regardless if we had a press invite. We tried
purchasing tickets immediately as they went on sale through
Ticket Master, but they were sold out in minutes! We checked
the secondary market and found some available for an
astronomical amount and decided were not willing to pay over
$400 to see this event and consequently purchased grass area
for $50 each. This will be the very last time we make this
mistake. The concert was packed and every inch of grass area
was taken and it was very difficult to move around as people
placed their full blankets and chairs to stake their claim.
We Ubured over to the event from our Redwood City hotel,
which was our closest resting spot at the Best Western Inn.
Clean, reliable, good owners and a nice breakfast served,
99% of the time we have very good luck staying in this
brand. |
| Even with a ride it was
still walked almost a mile to get to the entry gates.
Usually it is not this difficult to get closer lodging, but
this particular week there was a big convention going in San
Francisco that had filled the hotels everywhere. Still well
worth the price of the Uber fair which was only $50 round
trip and so much better than driving and parking. Once
inside the Shoreline Amphitheatre there were lots of places
to grab food and drinks, Food trucks and tented bars, along
with picnic benches and open grass areas to hang out.
Dave Grohl rocked it for sure!
He is simply and animal on stage. His vocals are amazing and
he can belt out tunes and his famous screechy yell all night
long. The crowd loves him! Even with a broken leg he is phenomenal
performer! The Foo Fighters played every song we new plus a
couple new ones that were really good. We will be waiting
for the next event and will spend the extra cash to have a
seat for certain to be able to have the ultimate concert
experience. |
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Ambrosia at Helwig
Winery, Plymouth, CA
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September 19, 2015
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| Helwig Winery is a marvelous
venue located at 11555 Shenandoah Rd. | Plymouth CA.
The amphitheatre only holds 750 people so there's a great
view from every angle and it is intimate and informal. You
can bring in your own chairs or a blanket or if you arrive
early enough you can use the chairs set up in the first 15
rows, closest to the stage. There is food for purchase and
wine from the winery can be purchased by glass or bottle. We
found a great spot on top of a boulder in the upper area and
had a breath taking view of the sunset before the show
began. We later moved down on a dance platform right in
front of the stage and danced to our favorite songs from
back in the day. We appreciate the opportunities to see
these older bands that were so popular back in the 80's. We
feel we should take advantage of any chance to be able to
reconnect with the sounds from so long ago and realize they
won't be performing forever. Ambrosia sounded great..played
great and it was over all just a perfect evening. We stayed
at a cute little RV resort called Far Horizons 49er Village.
If you have an RV it is a perfect spot with a nice water
feature and small creeks running through the park. They
provide a free shuttle ride over to the winery and also give
rides into Sutter Creek and other attractions in the area on
a regular basis for it's guests. It was a cute place! They
also have a number of cabins you can rent for the weekend,
which is where we stayed. The cabin was a studio with a full
kitchen, was immaculately clean and comfortable. if
your hungry after the event, you are out of luck in finding
a restaurant or somewhere to buy food. We, however,
pre-planned for this and packed a long an ice chests with
snacks. They gave a voucher for breakfast that was served in
the small cafe and store area. |
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Scorpions at SAP
Center, San Jose, CA
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October 1, 2015
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