I walked that way while comfortably numb screaming I love rock n roll

Well Where do I start??? I guess I should go in chronological order। Saturday night started this weekend off with a laser light show at the Pier Six pavilion with the Pink Floyd cover band "Several Species", named for "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict", a piece of music concrete by Roger Waters.

This band prides themselves for accurately re-creating the sound of Pink Floyd. This they should be proud of, they were dead on. Several times, I closed my eyes took a deep breath of the pot smoke from the row in front of my dad and I, and BAM!!, Floyd was there. The group hit most of your standard Pink Floyd songs, and their first set included "Time", "The Man/The Journey" Suite, and "Shine On you Crazy Diamond". After a brief intermission to stretch your legs and get the second hand pot buzz to go away, the band comes right back out. The second set was kind of a highlight run of the album "The Wall". This included a rousing sing-along to "Another Brick in the Wall" (one of my personal favorites). Cleverly, they had the audience sing where the London Boys Choir sang. At this point if you weren't feeling this band, go the heck home. Several times I found myself close to tears simply due to their amazing ability to not just play Pink Floyd note for note, but in the jam sections they would lock into identical groves and even played on the same parts of the beat. The term "detail oriented" doesn't come close to describing the effort and the manner this 11 piece ensemble operates. The encore of "Comfortably Numb" and "Wish You Were Here" were quite wonderful. by this point, three hours of this left my ass comfortably numb as well.

So That wraps up Saturday Night. Sunday night, WOW. Sunday night had a double billing at the Nissan Pavilion in rustic Bristow, Virginia. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opening for none other than Aerosmith. Now I am not a huge Aerosmith fan, and I like Joan Jett a lot, she looks good in leather, kicks ass, and seems like a chick who will sit down with you at the bar and pound a few back with you, then have your back when the jerk at the end of the bar looks at you all funny. Never mind the fact Cherry Bomb and Bad Reputation are just kick ass songs. Sitting out on a blanket on a cool mid-September summer evening, the Blue Ridge mountain foothills in the background and of course a nice beverage. But back on to the hottie in the black leather. Joan and her Blackhearts come out in traditional punk style. Dressed down, fresh from either bed or a fight, no intro, just hit right in on the music. They do Bad Reputation, Cherry Bomb, and one other song, before she takes the mic and simply says "Thanks, we're the Blackhearts from New York City". Straight up punk. I love it. Its all about the music. The cover of "Crimson and Clover" is what got the dancing going, though the crowd, seemingly uneducated about Joan Jett just wanted "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and she gave it, and kicked some ass, though its so not her best song. She went out with "I Hate Myself for Loving You". Awesome show so far. the first smells of marijuana appeared during the "Crimson and Clover".

Aerosmith comes out with a lackluster little fake newsreel about their current tour. The moment it ended the lights and a massive kick hit and they were off and rocking out. By this point I've lost track of what was playing, and what songs were being played and just focused on the task at hand, shaking my rotund self to some sweet tunes. The marijuana smell now strong from the blanket in front of us. I do know Aerosmith hit a lot of their big songs, such as "Sweet Emotion", and "Walk This Way". It is an odd thing that happens to me at music concerts. I tend to go into a trance of sorts and just not care about whats going on around me and can ignore things, even chicks wanting to dance, though I did partake in that a few times. I'm not completely out of it. Just when it happens, be careful. I truly have began losing myself in the music again. I hadn't been able to do that in a long time. I think I'm coming out of the college overload finally. It happens to some music majors, to where they lose the joy of music because they must micro-analyze it. Its a fun party trick, but makes you a huge loser at these things. I credit the start of this blog in helping me get out of it.

Anyways, Aerosmith does a two hour set, which included a kick-ass theremin solo by Joe Perry. That sent me crazy, as I am a very amateur theremin player myself. He even used the same one I own. I felt proud. Dumb reason to be proud, but I finally related, instrumentally to a band I am seeing. That was big, I hadn't been to a concert that involved a trumpet, that wasn't my trumpet on stage, in a long time.

That concert was worth the wait, cost, headache and distance from driving in Virginia.

Anyways there you have it, the review of a big big big weekend for music. I'm worn out, but my quintet just booked itself another gig for October 14, so we need to get our act together and rehearse tomorrow night, before the second symphony rehearsal of the year. This gig suits us well too, they want off the wall, and I told the guy, "We can do off the wall, we're not your mom's brass group."

Peace to you all