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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 29, 2020 16:21:34 GMT
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Apr 29, 2020 21:55:53 GMT
Day 23: A song by a band you wish were still together. I'll bend the rules and go with who I'd like to see the most: Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra I actually saw Sinatra live - and he sang that song! Very jealous, when did you see him? I was planning to see his son since he sounds just like him, but of course he had a heart attack and passed away a few years ago.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 30, 2020 0:53:27 GMT
I saw Frank Sinatra near the end of his career in 1994. The concert was originally scheduled for March 1994 at The Hershey (PA) Arena. This was pre-internet (for me anyway) so in order to get good seats, I took a personal day from work and drove to Hershey. It was a freezing cold day in January, and I stood in a long line across the parking lot for about two hours until the box office opened. For some reason, a revolving stage was going to be used for the concert; nevertheless, I secured tickets for the 4th row!
On the day of the concert, it snowed very hard in the early morning. Schools closed and the concert was postponed. It was Sinatra's decision; he didn't want to travel to Hershey in the inclement weather. But here's the thing. It was one of those days where it snowed hard in the early morning, but after a few hours the sun came out, the temperature rose, and by noon the roads were just wet. No snow, no ice, just wet streets.
Anyway, it was announced that all previously purchased tickets would be honored, but with two new conditions. First, Sinatra nixed the revolving stage, and that changed everything. It was changed to conventional seating, the stage in front and then just multiple rows of seats. So, how could you get a corresponding seat from the original seating configuration? You couldn't. And, the decision was made for a "first come, first serve" policy in getting new seats. Whoever called first got the best seats. Well, I decided to not take another personal day and show up at the box office. Instead, I decided to telephone the box office and make the "exchange" that way. It could not have worked out worse. I sat at my desk at work and called and called and called and called. The line was busy for hours. When I finally got through and made the switch in seats, I ended up going from the 4th row to literally the last row in the entire friggin' arena. I was so pissed. See, it still gets me upset to think about it.
Oh, the concert...I thought Mr. Sinatra put on a good show. He was on autopilot, no doubt about that. He had the setlist, the songs, the arrangements, the phrasings down pat. He was in fine voice, though. He hit the notes. He stumbled with a lyric or two, but his was near the end of his touring days. He talked to the audience more than I thought he would, telling old stories. He joked with his son, Frank Jr., who was the conductor of the band. The setlist was a little short (compared to the long Beach Boys' setlists that I was used to), but he sang most of his greatest hits. It was a different concert for me. You think the Beach Boys have old(er) audiences? Ha ha. Some of the ladies were wearing long dresses and flashy jewelry. Guys were wearing suits and tuxedos. All out of respect for the Chairman Of The Board. I'm glad I caught him because he retired from live performances shortly after that.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Apr 30, 2020 3:56:14 GMT
Here's the setlist from that concert, if you haven't looked recently:
Come Fly With Me
A Foggy Day
(George Gershwin cover)
You Make Me Feel So Young
(Josef Myrow cover)
For Once in My Life
(Jean DuShon cover)
Come Rain or Come Shine
(Harold Arlen cover)
The Lady Is a Tramp
(Rodgers & Hart cover)
The House I Live In
(Earl Robinson cover)
Fly Me to the Moon
(Kaye Ballard cover)
Strangers in the Night
(Bert Kaempfert cover)
What Now My Love
(Gilbert Bécaud cover)
I've Got a Crush on You
(George Gershwin cover)
Die Moritat von Mackie Messer (Mack the Knife)
(Kurt Weill cover)
One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)
(Johnny Mercer cover)
My Way
(Claude François cover)
Summer Wind
(Grethe Ingmann cover)
Theme From New York, New York
(John Kander cover)
I'd still be mad too about the ticket situation. The whole thing is hard for me to imagine since I've never been without the internet, except when I was too young to use it anyway. I'm glad it was a solid concert. Some of the videos I've seen were a little iffy, but then again, I just saw Brian last year, so it's not like I would have complained.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 30, 2020 11:35:11 GMT
It's funny the topic comes up and it seems like forever ago, but pre-internet ticket sales were so different! I remember getting physical tickets by mail in advance of a 1997ish U2 show. That's not so long ago (for some of us, anyway!)! Calling box offices, going to record stores that sold tickets for venues, and of course carrying those physical tickets. A far cry from showing the guy at the door a ticket on your phone that he can scan...
Then again, most shows I went to back in the late 90s and much of the 00s were indie or local bands in clubs and bars. Usually no advance tickets were necessary.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 30, 2020 13:44:19 GMT
I'm glad it was a solid concert. Some of the videos I've seen were a little iffy, but then again, I just saw Brian last year, so it's not like I would have complained. Did you see videos of the actual 1994 Sinatra Hershey concert or just videos in general from that time frame?
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Post by kds on Apr 30, 2020 13:49:12 GMT
It's funny the topic comes up and it seems like forever ago, but pre-internet ticket sales were so different! I remember getting physical tickets by mail in advance of a 1997ish U2 show. That's not so long ago (for some of us, anyway!)! Calling box offices, going to record stores that sold tickets for venues, and of course carrying those physical tickets. A far cry from showing the guy at the door a ticket on your phone that he can scan...
Then again, most shows I went to back in the late 90s and much of the 00s were indie or local bands in clubs and bars. Usually no advance tickets were necessary.
When I first started going to concerts in the late 1990s, The Hecht Company had a Ticketmaster box office. I remember the service charges also weren't nearly what they are now. I do hate to see tangible tickets fading away.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Apr 30, 2020 13:57:27 GMT
I'm glad it was a solid concert. Some of the videos I've seen were a little iffy, but then again, I just saw Brian last year, so it's not like I would have complained. Did you see videos of the actual 1994 Sinatra Hershey concert or just videos in general from that time frame? Sorry, I just meant videos in general from that time.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Apr 30, 2020 13:59:54 GMT
It's funny the topic comes up and it seems like forever ago, but pre-internet ticket sales were so different! I remember getting physical tickets by mail in advance of a 1997ish U2 show. That's not so long ago (for some of us, anyway!)! Calling box offices, going to record stores that sold tickets for venues, and of course carrying those physical tickets. A far cry from showing the guy at the door a ticket on your phone that he can scan... Then again, most shows I went to back in the late 90s and much of the 00s were indie or local bands in clubs and bars. Usually no advance tickets were necessary.
When I first started going to concerts in the late 1990s, The Hecht Company had a Ticketmaster box office. I remember the service charges also weren't nearly what they are now. I do hate to see tangible tickets fading away. I try to get physical tickets whenever possible. I think stuff like that will be cool to look at say 50 years from now and maybe it'll trigger some memory that I would have otherwise forgotten.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 30, 2020 14:03:44 GMT
When I first started going to concerts in the late 1990s, The Hecht Company had a Ticketmaster box office. I remember the service charges also weren't nearly what they are now. I do hate to see tangible tickets fading away. I try to get physical tickets whenever possible. I think stuff like that will be cool to look at say 50 years from now and maybe it'll trigger some memory that I would have otherwise forgotten. I tend to use any- and everything as bookmarks, and when I finish a book I often just leave the bookmark in it. So recently I happened to pull out a book that, lo and behold, held my 2004 Glasgow, Scotland, Brian Wilson Smile show ticket.
I hate the loss of physical tickets for a number of reasons. But that's one of them.
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Post by kds on Apr 30, 2020 14:04:01 GMT
When I first started going to concerts in the late 1990s, The Hecht Company had a Ticketmaster box office. I remember the service charges also weren't nearly what they are now. I do hate to see tangible tickets fading away. I try to get physical tickets whenever possible. I think stuff like that will be cool to look at say 50 years from now and maybe it'll trigger some memory that I would have otherwise forgotten. So far, I've been able to get physical tickets even when a venue or artist prefers the digital option. The lone exception was the Iron Maiden show I attended last year, but I have a print out with a QR code. I have a feeling that it won't be an option in the near future though, whenever concerts return.
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Post by kds on Apr 30, 2020 14:05:40 GMT
I try to get physical tickets whenever possible. I think stuff like that will be cool to look at say 50 years from now and maybe it'll trigger some memory that I would have otherwise forgotten. I tend to use any- and everything as bookmarks, and when I finish a book I often just leave the bookmark in it. So recently I happened to pull out a book that, lo and behold, held my 2004 Glasgow, Scotland, Brian Wilson Smile show ticket.
I hate the loss of physical tickets for a number of reasons. But that's one of them.
Plus, there was a certain thrill of getting that ticket in your hand the first time, and seeing "Roger Waters" or "The Who" or whoever printed on there. The digital age has brought us a ton of convenience, but is slowly robbing us of a lot of charm.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 30, 2020 14:07:18 GMT
Did you see videos of the actual 1994 Sinatra Hershey concert or just videos in general from that time frame? Sorry, I just meant videos in general from that time. One last thing on the Sinatra concert and then I'll get off it. I'm sure we all experienced this, when you attended a concert and thought that the artist/band sounded great, only to hear a bootleg tape (I'm aging myself) or see a subsequent YouTube video of the show, and were shocked at how...bad...they sounded. As I posted above, I thought Sinatra sang pretty well at the concert, but when I got home from the show, I turned the local news on TV, and they had a short report on the concert. They showed about 20-30 second clip of Frank singing, and he didn't quite sound as good as I thought just an hour ago. 
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 30, 2020 14:11:48 GMT
I have a Beach Boys' buddy going all the way back to high school, and we've gone to over 35 BB/BW concerts together since 1978. When he built his house and put a bar in his basement, he took all of his ticket stubs and spread them out on top of the bar and then put a glass covering over them. It really looks cool and it's a great conversation piece.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Apr 30, 2020 14:33:14 GMT
Sorry, I just meant videos in general from that time. One last thing on the Sinatra concert and then I'll get off it. I'm sure we all experienced this, when you attended a concert and thought that the artist/band sounded great, only to hear a bootleg tape (I'm aging myself) or see a subsequent YouTube video of the show, and were shocked at how...bad...they sounded. As I posted above, I thought Sinatra sang pretty well at the concert, but when I got home from the show, I turned the local news on TV, and they had a short report on the concert. They showed about 20-30 second clip of Frank singing, and he didn't quite sound as good as I thought just an hour ago. Back in 2012, I was watching nearly every Beach Boys concert video I could find. I was a little nervous about the show I was going to because they didn't sound so great in some of them. Of course at the concert they sounded great! There is or was a bootleg of that show on youtube and they still sounded pretty good.
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Sept 30, 2024 19:53:42 GMT
Sept 30, 2024 19:53:42 GMT
