Category Archives: Concerts

Katy Perry at the BOK Center

Heather and I went to see Katy Perry at the BOK Center here in Tulsa Monday night. We get lots of really nice concerts here in Tulsa and they are mainly on weeknights because the big popular guys and gals like to spend the weekends in the big cities where I guess they can make more money.

Anywho here we were at the concert late Monday night along with half the areas teenage and pre-teenage girls and their moms. Including our next door neighbor’s teenage daughter who sat right in front of us. We each pretended to act like we didn’t see the other.

I bet that there were lots of tired grumpy girls in class on Tuesday!! The concert didn’t let out until 11:30. That was late,even for me.

Anyway Katy Perry sang, and danced, and changed costumes, and then sang, and danced, and changed costumes again.

She sang loud and she sang soft, she sang while standing on the stage, laying on the stage and sitting on thrones.

She even sang wearing a cat suit.

And she sang while wearing a birthday suit (fully clothed of course, she is very classy)

Her guitarists flew through the air. I missed the shot where the guitars shot flame. Darn!!

She sang while adjusting her costume.

Did I mention something about flying through the air?

Oh yes, and she sang on a horse.

And she sang to everybody. She has quite the connection with the audience. That is what I like the connection. She can do it. Not quite like Michael Buble and Taylor Swift (nobody connects with her fans like Taylor Swift!) but Katy puts on a great show.

Now lets switch over the other people. This guy with the Murse is Katy Perry’s father Keith Hudson. He is a preacher!! He has a blog and made a very interesting post about meeting President Obama at the White House. Check it out!!

And I’m sorry, if you are taking a selfie, then I get to take a picture also. Its one of Newton’s laws of selfies. Something about for every photo taken then an equal an opposite photo must be taken. So I’m just representing the balance of nature.

I know this is a cute couple. I hope they don’t get mad. I don’t know why they would.

Ah, yes, well, ahem. Okay

Here is a little youtube of Katy. She really is quite talented and comes across as very grounded.

Edit this setlist | More Katy Perry setlists

And of course the set list. Gotta have the set list.

All in all, one of the better concerts we’ve been to in the last few years.

So, what do you think of Katy Perry?

Michael Buble in Concert in Tulsa

Last Friday night was date night. Heather and I went downtown to see Michael Buble at the BOK Center. But first things first, right. Dinner at the Vault.

And some funky cocktails.

And some carrot cake

And then off to the show! I apologize for the photographs. They kind of suck because I didn’t want to take my “big camera” and it not be allowed and then have to take it back to the car. Turned out it would have been okay but oh well!!

This is the third time we have seen him and he is quite the showman. He really connects with his audience.

And he is very generous. He introduced all the members of the band and he had a little playful insult for each of them.

He had a heck of a set also. I had never seen such a thing.

And then here are the Tulsa Strings he had fun with them.

But you know, I’d go listen to him sing in an alley. He is incredibly talented and really connects with his audience. He has quite the raunchy sense of humor without being offensive.

Edit this setlist | More Michael Bublé setlists

He sang and sang and sang and then he sung some more. Everything from Daft Punk to Nat King Cole to The Beatles. You know the guy knows Tulsa is a big music town and he closed with a Leon Russell song and the audience loved it.

PS – His Opening Act, “Naturally Seven” was great also. They opened for Buble the last time we saw him. They are all voices, no instruments.

Being the obnoxious know it all that I am when I saw the below. I thought, “Ah okay, they gave in to a little percussion.” Gotcha!

Yeah well gotcha me more like it. The curtain dropped and there were no drums. Just a guy doing drums with his voice.

It was an amazing time!

Hey, have you heard any good music lately?

Chris Isaak at The Joint at Hard Rock Casino

Thursday night for Sweetie and I ventured out to the Cherokee Tribe’s Hard Rock Casino in the Tulsa suburb of Catoosa to see Chris Isaak play at The Joint. The Casino’s very nice (and non smoking) music venue.

I’ve had a passing interest in Isaak’s music for years. There is nothing like seeing a performer live to making one a fan.

Isaak’s voice is strong and clear, his band is very tight (He said that they have been playing together for 27 years.) It wasn’t long before Isaak had the audience dancing in the aisles.

And up on the stage! He kept trying to shoo the ladies over to the bass player.

Some of the women who couldn’t dance were updating their status.

Sweetie and I were talking about what kind of music that Isaak plays. We decided that he has rockabilly influences.

I found him to be very funny. He was fully of self depracating droll one liners. Plus he took lots of shots at his band especially the bass player.

The music was great, the Joint’s acoustics were perfect. It was a perfect concert.

And it featured the world’s biggest blowup doll. I mean if you like that sort of thing.

He sang and played the guitar for over one and a half hours.

It seemed like ten minutes.

I strongly recomend seeing him live. I understand that PBS is televising one of his shows. I’m going to watch it. If Sweetie will let me have the remote one of these days.

Watch Chris Isaak Live! Beyond the Sun | Preview on PBS. See more from pbs.

(Fair warning, the following video is almost R rated)

Sting in Concert in Thackerville, Oklahoma with David Sancious

Sunday night Sweetie was a happy woman. It wasn’t anything I did, I’ll tell you that.

It was this guy’s fault. Sting, fomerly of The Police, now international music superstar. Sting started his latest tour at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Never heard of Thackerville? It is right over the border from Texas. Texans hungry to throw their hard earned money away come in droves to give it to the Sallisaw Tribe. The casino has a very nice events center and that is where Sting kicked off his Summer 2012 Tour. You want to know where he is going next?

Sting is going to a few places here in the States and then heading over to Europe. But it is starting in Thackerville. Cool for Sweetie and I. Anyways, I digress.

Sting was awesome. Sweetie is a huge fan, I liked him until I heard this concert, now I’m a fan. Not like Sweetie though.

He is a very gifted and accomplished performer. His band and backup singers are great also.

The violinist, Peter Tickell, blew us away. You show up in Oklahoma you better know how to play, and he does. He looks so young.

The music just flowed from the stage, no hickups or bad notes (like I would know, right.)

The keyboard player, see him? He is a very nice guy David Sancious. We chatted with him for a little while in the bar before the show. Very soft spoken and unassuming, very nice to a couple Okies. He told us that he played the keyboards and told us a little about Sting, and the band. He has been with Sting off and on for twenty years. He made it sound like it wasn’t any big deal. We google him afterward and find out he is a very sought out musician. He toured Bruce Springsteen in the early years of the E Street Band, he also played with and toured with Peter Gabriel, Santana, Seal, Jeff Beck and so on. Plus he has several albums of his own. So we are now fans of Mr. Sancious.You just never know who you are going to run into do you?

Anwyways, Sweetie was happy and I was happy that Sweetie was happy. I give the concert of five stars out of five.

Anyways, a youtube clip of Sting singing.

SET LIST

All This Time
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Englishman In New York
Demolition Man
I Hung My Head
Driven To Tears
Fields Of Gold
Sacred Love
Shape Of My Heart
Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)
The Hounds Of Winter
Never Coming Home
Desert Rose
King Of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

Have you been to a good concert lately?

Van Halen in Tulsa at the BOK Center

Monday night Sweetie and I went to see Van Halen in downtown Tulsa at the BOK Center.

Van Halen is now, left to right, Wolfgang Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen. Eddie is Wolfgang’s dad. I love that name Wolfgang.

It was great to see David Lee Roth. I know he is a pain in the butt, but without him, I lost interest in Van Halen. Kind of like when Michael Jordan quit basketball you know.

The rocked and rolled, they have been at it for 40 years now.

Everybody seemed to be playing along nicely.

I bet it is great for Eddie to be on stage with his son.

Wolfgang is going to be great. Right now he is in the background.

But he looks like a rock star doesn’t he.

The stage was very simple. New gewgaws or anything but they had the biggest screen I’ve ever seen, outside of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium screen.

(from setlist.fm)

They played all their hits. Ain’t Talking About Love is the most thrilling rock anthem I’ve ever heard live. Here is the music from it. Sorry, even though it is Youtube it is just a static picture while you are listening to the music.

Van Halen gets five out of five stars for their performance. Go see them when they come to your town.

The Black Keys El Camino Tour at BOK Arena Tulsa

Saturday night Sweetie and I loaded up, dropped SuperPizzaBoy off at Nana’s and headed off downtown to the BOK Center to see the Black Keys.

The Black Keys are two guys from Ohio, Dan Auerbach who sings and plays the guitar and Patrick Carney who plays the drums. They have other guys out on the stage for many of the songs but they also do a bunch with just Carney and Auerbach.

The stage is set up a little differently than most rock bands. The drums are right up front and Carney faces Auerbach. You can tell they are really in synch.

Auerbach sings with a very strong clear voice and is a great guitar player. I had never thought of them as being a rock band, I was wrong. I need to turn the V up.

They started and just sang, no little riffs about and inside jokes, just playing.

They didn’t have an elaborate set but I did enjoy the laser light show.

Listening to music on an ipod or in your car is nice, but there is nothing like seeing it live.

Try this video out. Turn it up, all they way. Remember, if its too loud then you are to old. I’m giving the Black Keys five stars out of five for a concert. It was wonderful.

The Arctic Monkeys opened for the Black Keys. I think they are opening for all the Black Keys concerts on this El Camino Tour.

They are from England and I would have to say their music is a little punkish along the lines of Green Day but with a lot more reverb. The lead singer, Alex Turner, had a very powerful voice. I was also very impressed with the drummer, Matt Helders. He could really play the drums. Not that I know a thing about it.

They made heavy use of the strobe lights during the first part of their set. I was glad we were in our seats when the music started. Between the roar of the band and the strobe lights it was very overwhelming. I guess that I am borderline too old.

I give Arctic Monkeys also a five stars out of five.

Go see them if they come to town, or go get their cd’s or download something.

Mainly I recommend listening to any sort of music you want,except disco of course. Go see a local band.

Bob Seger at the BOK Center in Tulsa

Last week Sweetie and I loaded up and went to the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa to see Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in concert. (I’ll apologize right up front for the fuzzy photos.)

I’ll admit, I love his music. In general I hate the 1970’s to early 80’s era music but that is mainly because of over exposure. I have had several years of XM Satellite therapy and I’m feeling much better about music from that era. I mean, I loved it at the time, but after the 10,000th hearing it gets a little old.

Anyway, Bob Seger at 66 years old is selling out major arenas. He is bypassing the casinos. There is some life in the old rocker yet.

He sang, he played guitar and the piano, he kept he crowd on their feet the whole time.

He was so hot, he literally burst into flames at one point, yes literally. I caught it on film.

He not only brought the world’s biggest saxophone with him, he brought half of Michigan down to Oklahoma.

He had a bunch of horns, and a bunch of guys playing guitar,

He brought the cute backup singers

(The lady on the right, it was her birthday, in case you want to send her a card. She’d appreciate it, I’m sure.)

The crowd loved Bob Seger but they LOVED the lead guitar, Mark Chatfield. He lives in Glen Pool, Oklahoma. Right outside Tulsa. (Also the home of the weirdest city slogan of all time, “The Town That Made Tulsa Famous.”)

Talk about a lead guitar, playing like lead guitar. He was berserk, he went crazy. He whipped his guitar left, right, up and down. You could tell that the rest of the band knew to stay out of his way. No Generation X or Y angst about his mommy leaving him at a day care center when he was little. He rocked and he rolled. He owned the place. The crowd applauded him for five minutes when he was introduced. Seger didn’t seem to mind.

Seger played for well over two hours and had two encores. He wore us down. He had the whole band take a bow.

I rate his concert a four out of five stars. Go see him when he comes your way. You won’t be sorry.

The Kings of Leon at the BOK Center

Last week Sweetie and I dropped the kid off at Nana’s (the world’s best baby sitter) and headed downtown to the BOK Center to see the Kings of Leon in concert.

I didn’t know much about them and I was very surprised. These guys can rock. They are three brothers and a cousin who formed the band in Tennessee in 1999. Check out the Kings of Leon Wikipedia site for my information.

The arena was packed with a very appreciative audience. We were on our feet for most of the concert. What I love in a concert is when the band and the audience are really tied emotionally together. Not too many performers command that. Garth Brooks, Michael Buble, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts get that, so does the Kings of Leon.

There wasn’t a whole lot of chit chat, they just played, and played hard.

(sorry for the fuzzy photo).

I didn’t find out until the next day that the Kings of Leon have an Oklahoma connection. They were awarded a Rising Star Award at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame just prior to the concert. A couple of them were born in Oklahoma and they said they consider themselves “Sooners at heart” and are talking about buying homes here.

I rate these guys five stars out of five. I don’t think Sweetie liked them near as much as I did. If they come to your neck of the woods and you like great rock music check them out.

Saturday night Sugarland stormed into Tulsa’s BOK Arena on their Incredible Machine tour. Sugarland is the duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Sweetie and I were not familiar with them beforehand but we are fans now.

They are supposed to be nominally a Country Western duo so I was glad to see the hats. They didn’t wear them very long and I wouldn’t call their music country at all. I don’t know what I’d call it except great.

Jennifer Nettles stole the show is all I can say. She is vivacious on steroids. She sang and danced with energy and was just as fresh at the end of the show as at the beginning. She sings beautifully and with a smile.

Many concerts have cameras with projection screens. Sugarland was the first I’ve seen with HD projection. It was perfect for Ms. Nettles.

If Sugarland is coming to your town I would recommend checking them out. We went out and bought their CD the next day.

Here is their web site. Lots of good stuff there.

John Mayer Battle Studies Tour

Friday night, Sweetie and I left SuperPizzaBoy in the able hands of his Nana and went to see John Mayer at the BOK Center. He is winding up his Battle Studies Tour.

I tell you what the man and his band put on a SHOW. He rocked for hours and we loved it.

I knew the guy could sing. What I didn’t know is that he is whiz on the guitar. I was flat amazed at his skill.

His band was very able and balanced. His drummer even put on a great drum solo. I usually refer to the drum solo as the “dreaded drum solo.” The only thing worse is the “dreaded bass solo.” The drum solo was great last night, not very long either!

And of course, before and after the John Mayer the audience provides a little entertainment. I’m still developing my BOK Bingo game. Anybody want to play? Here are my latest entries.

Anyway, if John Mayer is coming to your town, go see him. I give his concert a 4 out of 5. It is great.

YogisDen.us

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