Yessongs

Elwood Francis was a Guitar tech for many years for the band...it was only fitting that he is the new bassist. He was clean shaven, grew a beard and after the Covid shutdown, they decided it was time to go out on the road again, they got ready for rehearsals, and he grew a nasty looking beard and fits right in said Billy Gibbons. What do you think? Thanks Alan, geez last saw these guys in 1982, Christ amazing at how good they still are with Billy Gibbons voice still rocking all the great music and Frank Beard still playing lights out on Drums. They brought the house down last night for 2,400 of us..pics/report soon. Will add to McCartney/Hackett concert report.

Well Alan, it's the 70's for me. Yeah I know, we all can't help when we were born etc. Speaking of the 70's, going to see ZZ Top tonite at The Mountain Winery, Saratoga. Wifey is geeked up! Billy Gibbons still sounds great after 52 years.....amazing.

My best friend whom I had seen every "Yes" tour with since 1974, told me Alan White passed away this afternoon. Guy was great over all those years with "Yes" Nice guy too, having met him 3 different times, last time was 2019 here locally. Answered all of your questions. Distinctly remember asking him back in 2004, how he does it night after night? He told me " The hardest part is after the sound check, you eat, then you realize how tired you are as we pretty much come into that particular city, get checked in at the hotel, then come over to the gig" RIP Alan White... https://yesworld.com/

Looks good Jambo....did you dance along too?

Oh yeah her......thanks to Go Go Lover, he knew her and assured me she would "take care" She did by fleecing me for probably 2k baht for drinks that night LOL!

Looking at some pics from Sat evening, took wifey over to dinner at this place called "Pacific Catch" She has been here in the good old USA exactly 3 years Saturday. The waiter we had was a tool....she went to the restroom, he came by and told me "Man, she looks dangerous" Maybe being in the older guy category these days, I was not sure what that meant. I got to get with the program 😣

Outstanding....dam Ian Anderson still sounds pretty good. Seen them a few times over the years. He plays that flute like no other. I think a few bar girls I met over the years reminded me of "Cross Eyed Mary" LOL!

Years ago buddies from the gym after dinner one evening asked me if I was "gay" and it was Ok if I was, because well...I am from the bay area in Calif? They thought that because I have never been a big fan of beer, although wifey likes Corona here. I have always liked "White Zinfandel" wine....makes my food taster better when out for dinner. I will say, over the years as I have sadly gotten older, that if I "dlink" more than one glass, I am completely amazed at how buzzed I get! And if I do have more then one, I feel like shit the next day. I would absolutely get "wrecked" on Sangsom/Coke at night while on tour in LOS over many years. After 5 nights in BKK, 5 in Pattaya and 5 in Phuket....on the plane ride home, it was very evident that I could not keep this pace up.

Dam Alan, music is the only good thing going on in the world today pretty much. I hate when things I want to do get screwed up! Thnaks Stu...there is only 1 Paul McCartney. That tour at Berkeley was when he was with his band " Wings" right with his late wife Linda if memory serves me correctly. Yeah quite the catalog to choose from...he could have played for 2 more hours.

Appreciate all the inputs gentlemen..... @Mr. Smooth Yeah I was going to mention to you that he was at The Crest Tues night, not sure if you would have liked him. Spot on assessment, who takes over when the legends can no longer carry on. Cardi B? How about Nicki Minaj too? LOL! Thank God we still have some good performers out there huh?

Went to see Paul McCartney May 8th Mothers Day here. Hit “Straits” restaurant Santana Row for dinner. Wifey had the “Spicy Basil Chicken” and I went with the “Spicy Dragon Prawns” Shared a Salad before hand and each of us had a glass of Wine with dinner and Kahlua Coffee after. Great food as always. 45 minute drive to Oakland Oracle Arena. Get there at 6:30pm, show is supposed to start at 7:30pm…fat chance you know, he came out 8:15pm. Opens up with “Can’t Buy Me Love” and from then on a 2 hour 45 minute non stop show that took a trip down memory lane from a lot of his Beatles catalog and then a good dishing of all of his solo material. One tends to forget how much great material he actually composed, wrote and produced outside The Beatles. Certainly he has stood the test of time, now at 80 years old, the guy looks 60 and his physical appearance certainly has him being able to sing and perform for this long is quite the tribute to him overall I think. Working through such Beatles hits as “Love Me Do” “ You Never Give Me Your Money” “Lady Madonna” “Something” “Got To Get You Into My Life” and many others. He completely had control of everybody in that arena…..he pulled out a never before played song of “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” off Sgt Peppers was one of the highlights for me…Was pleasantly surprised at how many packs of women that were there you know? Trust me, these gals were digging it that were all in SEC 101 around us. They could not hold back any longer when they launched into “Get Back” Wifey was up too….throwing her fist in the air and all get up! Certainly McCartney has a very high budget for his production and nothing was spared expense wise. State of the art lighting systems were all in full display for sure and he certainly hit the mark with a blistering version of “Live And Let Die” at the end of the show. Good lord the lasers and the dynamite going off rivaled any Kiss or AC/DC show. He played a great version of “Blackbird” in the middle of the set, where he stepped onto a smaller stage where it raised him high above everyone in the arena and he nailed it! I did NOT know he also plays a mean Electric Guitar and pulled out a great lead on “I’ve Got A Feeling” that showed John Lennon singing his lead part on the projection screen they dubbed in behind them and what a great tribute to him also.. Few of the great tunes he played from his solo material included “Let Me Roll It” "Maybe I’m Amazed” while on Piano. They brought the Ukrainian Flag and a few others out after “Hey Jude” the final song of the night and then came back for a 5 song encore to finish the night that included "Birthday” “Helter Skelter” “Carry That Weight” Well done to Paul McCartney and his band for an absolute great night out! So nice to forget about all the crap going on in the world for just a few hours. So went to see Steve Hackett at The Fox Theater Oakland. Built in 1928, $75 Million Dollar renovation and re-opened in 2009. The “decor” in this place is absolutely stunning to say the least. 2,800 seats, all great views. Open bar opens at 5:00pm, doors to the theater open at 7:00pm. Went with a buddy from the gym who retired as a firefighter for 30 years. We had seats in the 12th row, little to the right of the stage. Dinner at Red Lobster then on to Oakland. Nice parking garage for $20, 5 minute walk to the theater and pleasantly surprised how clean the downtown area in Oakland is and uh…there were women everywhere at these outdoor bars, complete with music at 5:30pm, was not expecting that. Apparently Steve Hackett noticed too, as after his first song he told everyone “Nice to be back at the Fox Theater, nice to be out too working again. We got into the hotel about 1:00pm, I hate sitting around the room, so several of us went for a walk and there were a few nice girls outside who said “Hello” to all of us….I am glad my wife is back in England” Cool guy…. 8:15 pm out he comes and does 4 of his numbers from his solo material. Tells everyone they will take a quick break for 15 minutes, then be back to do a lot of the material from “Seconds Out” the double live Genesis album that in my opinion, is the best live album ever made. True to his word, out they come and launch into “Squonk” Very clean sound and the acoustics in that theater are second to none. The lead singer, Nad Sylvan has a tough job re-creating both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins voices on the various Genesis material they play and many have said it is a tough job doing both these guys, but for this night, I thought he was very good. His band is tight and the drummer really showcased his talents doing an exceptional job for Phil Collins drumming back in the day. Needless to say, Steve Hackett is on another level.I did not realize after seeing him a few times over the years, how much he uses his “foot pedals” to get the exact sound on all the classic material he plays. He uses a Guitar that is made in Japan called a Fernandes. The “sustain” he can create is phenomenal. I know this cause my Son told me. Looks very similar to any Gibson Les Paul, but it isn’t and works well for him. Certainly his solo playing on “Firth of Fifth” "The Musical Box” “Suppers Ready” and “Afterglow” show how great of a progressive Guitarist he really is. You can feel every note coming out of those Marshall Amps of his. The evening was just one great performance after another with such classics as “The Carpet Crawlers” “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” “Cinema Show” and encores of “Dance On a Volcano” and a blistering version of “Los Endos” to close the night that raised the roof on the place! Steve Hackett is the real deal.

Just " reveling" in last nights Steve Hackett show....dam the sound coming out of those Marshall Amps was outstanding.

@lazarusMatt, this one is for you. Out in the city yesterday in your neck of the woods. Met one of her friends that was in town visiting her parents. Hit this BBQ place over on Divisadero St, 4505 Burgers & BBQ and had food. She saw this place called "Basa Cannabis" we went in there and she bought a 1/2 pound of "Indica" She told me "Khun Mike, tomorrow Visakha Bucha Day" after I say prayer on the patio, Buddha say I need to do 2 bong hits" I told her I was OK with that LOL! I am going to see Steve Hackett in Oakland tonite, I told her me and my buddy need to bring a little of that along to get "primed" for the show!

Well....for me this gal here a few years back, I would probably would throw " in the farm" to have for an evening. As you can see, I am sure she felt the same way, as I was the ONLY photographer there that day that she did " special poses" for LOL! Number 11 would be my choice from this lot though.

Where is that? Beautiful place.

The guy is a legend to say the least......phenemonal show. Hope we both look that good at 80 huh? Keep up the workouts....

@galenkia Great Gary pics buddy, glad you had a good time. I am getting " geeked up" to see McCartney tonite here. I swear to God, I am going to go "postal" if I read another stupid fucking American say " Oh poor Paul, he should have stopped a long time ago, his voice is shot now and should have retired years ago"??? f**k me,the guy is 80, not 30...... Alan, I may need you to help me do some " damage" tonite if it gets serious!

Well.....the original voice still going strong in 2019. His gal pal not bad either.

I too was born in 1956, for some reason though, it was not until 1969 that I started listening to music. Beatles, Stones, Dave Clark 5, Hermans Hermits etc.etc.etc. But....I know this was in 1969 and to this day......I get a smile on my face when hearing this tune!! I don't know why either.......it's not the girl at 1:25 of this video....but she is adorable. 😇 "You are my candy girl.... and you got me wanting you" How appropiate huh? Hee!

Jesus Matt, this is worse then waking up to a bar girl who you thought had a nice smile, until you see her false teeth in her container sitting next to you!! Luckily for me, that has never happened LOL! Not to drag everyone into ANOTHER debate about vaxxing, but wifey and I both had our 4th shots in the last 2 weeks right? She Pfizer, me Moderna. She no problems, me for the first time ever, was the next day feeling "lightheaded" for about 24 hours after. I could not drive anywhere and would not have tried, I basically stayed in the house all day which I absolutely hate. Just to be sure I did NOT have a positive test, I took one at home here that we got from the Gov't and it came back negative luckily. Will keep an eye out on the web-site here locally as far as San Jose and Santa Clara County and see what the infection rates are the next few weeks. So far, no mandatory mask wearing in San Jose. Have 2 key concerts the next 2 Sundays that I obviously do not want to miss. Probably wear a mask tomorrow at the gym just to be safe. I don't know buddy, we both kind of agree, not so sure we want to do any more vaccinations going forward UNLESS there is just a catastrophic, variant etc in the next 6 months or so that is so prevalent, that we have to get another one you know? Neither of us have any pre-existing conditions, feel like we both have relatively strong immune systems etc. Hearing that Moderna and others are coming up with another, super duper Covid/Variant/ Flu shot all in one that they might be suggesting people take this fall. Not so sure at this point. I got more Vaccine drugs in me then illegals that are coming into this country? Kamala!!!!!!!

6 days a week at about 6:00pm at the local High School after dinner......she does not miss. Respect from me for keeping in shape. You tested positive for Covid? Are you OK? That looks like a very, small town.

Few pics from the "Rose Garden" here yesterday, wifey is getting a boner, she likes this place this time of year. I was getting a boner too.....looking at all of the other girls ( Viet's mostly) that were dressed to the 9's...getting their pics taken by boyfriends etc. 😍 I have to convince some of my Viet coffee girl friends to come out here one day and let me take some pics of them....of course they will do it.....for a price! Can you guys start a "Go Fund Me" page? LOL!

@lazarus Everytime I see pics like this, I think how lucky I was to have been able to sit in a nice office for 38 years you know? God bless these people for doing this, much respect! And with that humidity too.

@john luke Great pictures John, have to ask, are those double decker buses fun to be in and ride around town? I think wifey would have a blast riding around in one of those around London.

2nd Moderna booster for me this Thursday 10:00am...wifey had her Pfizer 2nd booster last week.