The Crown Theatre is part of an entity called the Crown Complex. A number of years ago, we saw Elton John at the larger Crown Coliseum on the property. The fact that we were 40 minutes late for Elton because of a traffic miscalculation because we decided to get something to eat is something that we now laugh about with the friends that went with us, especially our friend Tonya. But it wasn’t funny then.
While the coliseum seats ten thousand, the Crown Theatre seats just under 2,500. This was more like the Charleston Music Hall, where we saw Leon Russell and later Dylan’s son Jacob and The Wallflowers.
In fact, the only song I knew was “Gotta Serve Somebody,” from his Christian-themed Slow Train Comingalbum. I was singing that song in the parking lot as we observed folks of all ages making their way into the venue – oldsters, youngsters, hipsters…
I showed an attendant our e-tickets, and she wrote the seat numbers on a slip of paper. Further down the line, I surrendered my phone and another attendant put it into something called a Yondr Bag – a locking canvas contraption that prevents phone use in the performance space.
This seems to be a trend. Other artists – Dave Chappelle and Jack White for example – employ this tactic as well, citing a more engaged audience experience.
We knew about the Yondr Bag beforehand. Brenda left her phone in the car.
What Dylan says, goes – right?
The only other time I saw Dylan was when he played with Tom Petty at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California – “Alone and Together,” in 1986. That was before I had taken to Dylan, but he played most of the songs you would have expected. (I thought this was at Irvine Meadows but a glance online is inconclusive.)
The music was starting while Brenda was finishing up at the merch table, and they were about to close the doors until the first song was finished, but we rushed in. I saw two guitar players, a bass player, a pedal steel player – and a guy at a piano. I heard Dylan’s voice, but I was confused.
I saw the hair. Dylan was at the piano. And Dylan stayed at the piano the whole night.
During the course of the nearly two hours, there was the icon, delivering songs in his classic, indecipherable way. Sometimes he stood up while he performed at the piano, sometimes not. I wondered if there was a digital piano set inside the conventional piano body, but I wasn’t sure.
I signed onto Ticketmaster just before ten last Friday morning. My daughter and daughter-in-law did the same thing.
Endgame: Score tickets to KISS at Madison Square Garden for one of their two final shows ever (I’ll believe that when I see it). Friday at ten, the tickets were to go on sale to the general public.
The idea was to go in connection with my twins’ 30th birthday. My daughter lives in Brooklyn. My son lives here in Myrtle Beach with my daughter-in-law and their baby boy – my grandson.
My daughter isn’t fond of KISS at all, but she was down with going – to do something she knew her brother enjoyed. It’s also historic, after all.
Maybe we’re behind the times, but my daughter and I were looking to spend no more than $120 on our seats (plus my girlfriend). We thought these would be just a step better than nosebleed – but at least we would have been there.
I once lucked out and scored Elton John tickets at Barclays Center for something like $80 apiece. And those were relatively good seats. That was a fun SHOW.
Check this out…
When I signed on, I was put into the “waiting room” until 10 a.m., at which point I was sent into the queue, with more than 2,000 people in front of me.
It didn’t take long until it was my turn.
I can’t say I was shocked, but with the exception of a couple of premium retail seats priced at something like $2,000, the tickets had already become resale tickets. The cheapest tickets I saw were already north of $500.
I saw a resale ticket priced at $3151.50.
What’s going on? Were there 2,000 bots in front of me? Scalpers?
I love KISS. My son loves KISS. But come on. We saw them in Raleigh, N.C. not too long ago. You can read about that HERE. The seats were very reasonable., and we essentially said goodbye to the band then. But we might have enjoyed potential guest appearances – maybe Peter and Ace? Maybe Doc McGhee coming on and waving to everyone. But no way is this worth at least $500 apiece plus airfare and hotel.
My experience on Friday put a bad taste in my mouth. How did those tickets get to resale so quickly?
Stick those tickets where the sun don’t shine.
And don’t you dare come back. This is the End of the Road, after all.
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If you know me, you are aware that Elton John is my guy
It was Elton that sealed the deal for me when my brother and I made grandiose plans to form a band at the end of eighth grade and I chose piano as my instrument.
It was the otherworldly rush when I first typed the name Elton John with my little Olympia when I was 12 – seeing his name on a piece of paper rolled into the typewriter somehow made me think that I was summoning him – or as songwriter and former EJ backup singer Cidny Bullens once told us – “Him, with a capital H.”
My piano playing in many ways attempts to emulate Elton’s style, but I am not dumb enough to think I have hit the mark. Nevertheless, I continue to run the race.
Last month, I had the opportunity to say farewell to Him at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
My niece Katie was about to have her second child, and a few months ago her husband Bill offered me the chance to go with him to the concert. I am grateful.
And here I was, thinking that I had already “paid my respects” at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in March of 2019. I snapped up the opportunity, and sure enough, Katie gave birth to my grandniece Naomi on September 12 – six days before the show.
Once again, Reg played for nearly three hours. The sound was perfect and the EQ on His piano was a religious experience. Yet again, He opened with “Bennie and the Jets,” kicking the party into high gear immediately – and following with a smorgasbord of his hits backed by a stable of top-flight musicians including OGs Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson and Ray Cooper.
I’ll leave the reviews to others. Read more about the Barclays Center show HERE.
I cried when He said his goodbyes, waving as a lift took him into the Yellow Brick Road and he disappeared.
Bill and Me
Naomi and Me
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KISS finally did their show in Raleigh (May 17) and we were able to, as my son says, give a nod to the band that has been a constant in our lives – mine since I was a teenager and Wesley’s since he was barely six.
I raised him right.
His best friend since middle school, Xavier, was just as blown away by KISS shortly after meeting Wesley – and I am happy to say he came with us as well.
The show was a long time coming. The original date was supposed to be in September of 2020, a couple of weeks before Wesley’s wedding – and meant as a bachelor getaway for the three of us. It was postponed due to the pandemic and rescheduled for August 2021 – but Paul got the virus ahead of their Pittsburgh show and I think Raleigh was the next stop. Canceled again. I wrote about that HERE.
We listened to a couple of my set lists on Spotify, making sure to avoid rock and especially KISS, enjoying vintage hip-hop and funk instead. I also played a few ballads – heart-string pullers from the likes of Brian McKnight, Toni Braxton and Phil Collins.
We were creating a vacuum for the rock spectacle ahead of us.
Since I was a kid, I wasn’t a big fan of sitting through an opening act – especially when it came to the shows from artists I really loved. Some people give me a hard time about this – but that’s just me.
Thankfully, KISS chose a very talented painter named David Garibaldi to open – and he did some fantastic work, throwing together three images in record time: Steven Tyler, the Statue of Liberty and KISS. The last two were done upside-down and came to life at incredible speed.
Finally: “You wanted the best and you got the best. The hottest band in the world – KISS!”
Our seats were at stage left – where Tommy Thayer would spend most of the evening. Sometimes Gene Simmons would trade places with him – with Paul Stanley all over the place, consummate showman that he has always been.
Paul “flew” out to a platform in the middle of the venue for “Love Gun” and “I Was Made for Lovin’ You – telling the folks surrounding him that they now had front row seats.
Drummer Eric Singer deftly held the operation together – and delivered a solid and surprising drum solo between “Psycho Circus” and a partial taste of “100,000 Years.” He did a great job singing “Beth” while playing a baby grand.
Yes – Gene breathed fire and spewed blood. Yes – the drum riser rose not once, but twice – and the second time it did, it looked just like the first time I went to see KISS on the “Love Gun” tour – with two big cats appearing as the riser rose, just like when Peter Criss played.
Tommy and Gene had scissor lift-style risers on either side of the stage – and they deployed frequently. We were in hog heaven.
Tommy Thayer was on task the whole night. I mentioned to Wesley that I feel like Thayer is a guitar god. The guy has been with them for two decades – and he actually showed Ace Frehley how to play his own solos again ahead of 1996’s Reunion Tour.
Paul and Gene. What can I say? I’m almost 59, and I was constantly telling Wes and Xavier that – “they’re right there” – yards away from us. Fanboys never die.
I was 14 again – and I am sure the two young men with me felt the same way.
So long, KISS.
But if you go out again, I’ll be singing a different tune.
What started out as a week with high hopes ended with a whimper – and it all has to do with the fact that Paul Stanley tested positive for COVID-19.
Last year, I bought tickets for a KISS show in Raleigh – part of the outfit’s End of the World Tour. This concert was to be my son’s bachelor getaway. Just Wes, his best friend Xavier and me.
Not quite unexpectedly, the tour got postponed.
Bummer.
We changed our getaway plans and set our sights on an eventual rescheduled show, which was supposed to have happened on August 28.
When news came down the pike that KISS’ Pittsburgh show got canceled at the eleventh hour, we saw the writing on the wall. No way Paul would be well enough to perform two nights later.
Then came denial. What if Paul felt fine and could perform? Sure, that could happen…
How about surrounding Paul with Plexiglas… wouldn’t that work?
Then acceptance: No way any of that was going to happen. The show – and the tour – has been postponed.
I’ll get an email from Live Nation when there is a new date.
Wes and I have an incredible bond around KISS, proof that I did something right as a parent. He’s been a fan since before he started kindergarten. I’ve been a fan since I was 12 or 13, and can proudly say I was in attendance at The Forum in Los Angeles during the taping of ALIVE II in 1977. Xavier has been a fan since middle school.
We patiently await the rescheduled date. Hell, we’ve been waiting for a year already.
As much as I love KISS, this is it. They already launched one farewell Tour in 2000 (see shirt any my shitty makeup job in the above photo), and I get that it was in fact a farewell of sorts to Peter Criss and Ace Frehley after things started to go south, but I could swear we saw KISS with Peter on drums in 2003 on the World Domination Tour – but if Paul and Gene go out again, I will write them off.
There is talk about a franchise model for KISS, but that’s not what I am talking about here.
Last week, I had the opportunity to play a very interesting and
serendipitous show with my brother at a really cool venue in the heart of Myrtle
Beach.
The Historic Myrtle Beach Train Depot is a landmark brick structure that was built in 1937 and for 30 years welcomed both passenger and freight trains to the area. It later belonged to a beverage distributor and almost fell victim to the wrecking ball until the community went ballistic. After painstaking restoration, it opened in its current beautiful state in 2004 and is now rented out for events.
I officiated a wedding there not long ago, and was also on hand for the inaugural CreateSouth conference there more than a decade ago. I also played a fundraiser there with Sick Stooges, a cover band that I co-founded and played in for ten years.
Sick Stooges at the Train Depot (the longhair on the right is yours truly)
This wonderful setting is also home to the South by Southeast Music Feast – a regular gathering hosted by a nonprofit called South by Southeast (SXSE), which provides assistance and support to local music education programs. The organization is all about helping young people offset the costs associated with this – and as their website says – “to help young people in their pursuit of all the joys of music.”
South by Southeast was founded by Jeff Roberts, a guy I was happy to meet when I moved here. Sadly, he passed away in 2009. Ask anybody who came into contact with him, Jeff was the fountainhead from which a torrent of musical knowledge sprung. He owned a couple of longstanding independent record shops here, and one of his isms was, “You gotta hear this…” He was irreplaceable.
Roberts’ son, Hunter, was at the event. That was a full-circle situation if ever there was one.
Jeff invited us to play an opening slot at the music feast on the bill with Dangermuffin years ago – and we did 30 minutes of Chris’ original music – much like we did this time.
In October, The Yale Brothers did a fundraiser called Wicked Wishes at the Wicked Tuna in Murrells Inlet to benefit Make-A-Wish South Carolina. We were glad to see that our old friend Seth Funderburk was running sound for the event. Seth is an entrepreneur in his own right, with several businesses in operation as I type this. He’s also an organizer for the Waccamaw Getaway Festival and the IrieSun Reggae Festival. He’s also been involved with SXSE for as long as I have known him.
Fun fact: Funderburk and Roberts went way back – and Funderburk worked in
his youth for Roberts at his first shop, Sounds Familiar Records.
When we finished our set at Wicked Wished, Seth invited us to play the
SXSE show. We were excited about the prospect.
The idea of playing only originals was appealing, and the serendipitous part of this was the fact that we would be opening for a duo called Admiral Radio, made up of Becca Smith and Coty Hoover – both of whom attended College of Charleston and both of whom know my daughter, Taylor, through our friend Clyde Moser, who studied there as well. Admiral Radio recently played a series of shows in New York – and Taylor and Clyde saw them there. This in itself is cool, but the fact that we randomly got invited to play with them here is proof that this is indeed a very small world.
The vibe at a SXSE event is refreshing; the people come to actually listen to the music offered – and this coupled with a preshow potluck and New South Brewing‘s Chris Barnes set up at the back of the room with beer and wine makes for a welcoming experience for the musicians as well as the audience.
WAVE 104.1 radio personality and program director Scott Mann, our brother from another mother, introduced us in a way that solidified that point – and off we went. It was gratifying to feel the love from the folks in attendance, who responded enthusiastically to each song.
Admiral Radio delivered a great first set with originals and thoughtful covers. Their harmonies were ethereal and stirring. These two are seasoned pros, and it was an honor to share the bill with them. I am sure their second set was great, too.
It’s always nice to play a show in the presence of like-minded people,
to reconnect with friends and to make new ones.
A three-day lineup [May 24-26] features more than 20 musical acts, and the festival also includes vendors, flow artists, an art tent with live painting, food trucks (a new addition this year), disc golf (also new) and onsite camping. With of this is this going on within an hour of the Grand Strand, it’s easy to see why the slogan, “Don’t go away – Getaway” makes perfect sense for locals.
But believe this – the Waccamaw Getaway Music Festival is
indeed the perfect getaway for folks coming in from near and far. In fact, the
event was recently written up online in The Jamwich,
a magazine devoted to the jam band community. You can read that article HERE.
I spoke with festival cofounder Scott
Mann again this year for what I hope will be a traditional, yearly update. Mann
is also a radio personality and program director for area classic rock station WAVE 104.1. In addition to his weekday on-air
shift, he also hosts two weekly specialty shows, “Scott Mann’s Headshop” and
“Blues Hangover.”
A: We’ve got Brian
Roessler. We have Matt
Parker and the Deacons and we have Oracle
Blue again. Oracle Blue just signed on last-minute. They’re on tour, and will
be rolling back into town just in time to play on Sunday.
We have The A+B’S, which is a relatively new band that hasn’t
played out but maybe once – but they have been practicing for a year – former members
of McDowell
Shortcut, Pluto and The
Envelopes.
We’ve also got an acoustic set from Brock
Butler, who is the guitar player for Perpetual
Groove – and a bunch of really good North Carolina and regional bands.
Q: I saw you raving about the art tent on Facebook recently.
A: A lot of our artists were there last year, and there are
a couple of new ones this year. Smitty [Jared “Smitty” Smith] from Cornbread is going to be in there
too. His artist name is J. Paul Smith. He’s done some decorating work for us,
and he’s actually becoming very involved with the festival from a whole bunch
of different aspects. There are going to be a lot of cool artifacts around the
property, and two of them are things that he helped make. Pretty cool.
Q: What else is going on?
A: We’ve got [flow artists and specialty entetainment] Over
the Moon Productions back this year, of course – and we’ve got food trucks
this year, which we had at the reggae festival last year.
We also have Innova
Disc Golf this year. Their national marketing guy lives in Pawleys Island,
and it turns out his kids and a friend of mine’s kids went to school together
and they know each other well – and he’s a monster Dangermuffin fan. When he
was approached about doing the disc golf facilities, he was like, “Oh! I
already bought tickets,” so that was pretty cool.
We’ve arranged for a boat shuttle service from the Waccatee
Zoo throughout the weekend between Friday and Monday morning. Waccamaw River Tours is doing
this for us several times with late-night return trips – and that’s going to be
six bucks a trip. You can do it with camping gear if you want, and they’ve got
a boat big enough for like 40 people. This is good for locals if they don’t
want to drive for something like 45 minutes from Myrtle Beach or Socastee. They
can go over to Waccamaw River Tours, slip onto a boat ride and leave their car
there.
NOTE: Buy your TICKETS now. Advance (discount) ticket sales will end on Thursday, May 23rd at 11:59 p.m. Weekend passes will be available at the gate on Friday morning – and day passes will be available at the door on Saturday and Sunday.
We tried to pack as much as living as we could into our four days in New York City. Top of mind as we embarked on day two was the Elton John concert at Barclays Center later that night. Read all about that show HERE.
Before the trip, I happened to find a pair of low-top, old-school Adidas on the clearance rack at a shoe store and picked them up immediately. Divine providence, I figured, had sent me those shoes – just like the ones featured in the Run-D.M.C. video, “My Adidas.”
Now those fucking shoes were killing me, and I didn’t think
to bring another pair. The toe boxes were so narrow that my toenails were
digging into the sides of the adjacent toes. All I could do was stick Band-Aids
on some toes and keep stepping, as it were.
Some people gird their loins. I girded my toes, preparing
for the frenetic pace about to be set by the taskmaster, AKA my daughter.
We woke up a bit late, considering the fact that we were supposed to be exploring – and the first order of business was coffee. As I mentioned in the first installment, there was no coffee maker in our room. So we did what most Americans do in any city. We found a Starbucks down the street from our hotel. Really , we would have ducked into any coffee shop – but lo and behold, Starbucks was the first one we saw. Big surprise, right?
Don’t judge. It did the trick – fortifying us for our stroll to Macy’s, a place Brenda wanted to check out. Hell, we still watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – and since I have heard the expression, “Kiss my ass in Macy’s window at high noon and tell me it smells like roses” so many times, I didn’t mind checking it out either. Incidentally, that quote is attributed to Lyndon Johnson.
I let my daughter know that we were headed in the direction of Macy’s, and she was heading in from Bed-Stuy to meet us.
It felt interesting to be planted in New York – following my GPS toward the iconic department store. I think we headed down 6th Avenue toward 34th Street. Pretty sure memory serves that I saw Radio City Music Hall down 6th in the other direction. Nonetheless, the walk was awesome. So much to take in. I now wish I took notes.
We made it to Macy’s, but Taylor hadn’t arrived yet – so I
went back outside to vape and wait for her while Brenda struck up a
conversation with a lady in fragrances.
Side note – that brings to mind Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – when Mrs. Maisel, going through a divorce, had to work at a cosmetics counter at a huge department store in New York in the late 1950s. I highly recommend that show. Snappy dialogue (I actually appreciated the subtitles turned on in this case), fast-paced writing and a great ensemble.
Rachel Brosnahan as Mrs. Maisel / Amazon Studios
I am sure somebody will take offense – but Macy’s was, well, a department store. Perhaps the multiple floors and the sheer amount of upscale branding coming at you was interesting. My favorite part about the visit was watching Brenda interact with the fragrance lady, who had been to Myrtle Beach on vacation. She planned on coming again. It’s funny, and as evidenced by Carolina Forest – so many New Yorkers want to make the Myrtle Beach area home. Brenda got herself a bottle of Versace Bright Crystal and we ducked out.
Somehow I am over department stores, as I believe most
Americans are.
Taylor, trouper that she is, got us to the Staten Island Ferry. We decided to take a ride back and forth and catch a glimpse of the harbor and the Statue of Liberty from that vantage point. We thought about going on the actual tour of both Liberty Island and Ellis Island, but we figured this Ferry would work for our purposes.
I must admit that I thought of my father arriving by ocean
liner from London when he moved here in 1956. He was, like I am, prone to a
good cry – and he told me he sobbed when he first caught sight of Lady Liberty.
He loved America and everything he thought it stood for. Always called
presidents Mister – like Mr. Nixon or Mr. Reagan. Such a wonderful guy. There
was nobody else like him.
There were so many people gathering to take the ferry across
that I got worried that we would have to push for seats. This shows how little
I knew about the sheer size of those vessels. Unbelievable. Room to spare – and
I spend a lot of time walking around onboard as well.
When we got to Staten Island, I was kind of pissed that we had to get off. We wanted to go right back across. But we hung out for about 30 minutes inside the terminal. I bought Taylor a beer and went outside to vape, of course. When I was out there, I saw some dude get out of an Uber and drop a shopping bag. He was grateful when I told him about it.
I thought to myself, where were all of the rude people?
Time seemed to compress. I think it was because we were getting excited about Elton. By the time we made it back to Midtown, it was time to grab a quick bite and change. We decided to pop into Shake Shack in the Theater District and take some burgers and fried up to our room – with Taylor, of course.
We took a train together to the Barclays Center stop, and I
was amazed about how convenient that trip was. Tay ran off to have a drink with
her friend Rachel Feldman, who lived nearby and was at a local watering hole.
We hung around outside Barclays for a time, marveling at the huge digital sign
at the arena touting the sold out show. The crowds were arriving from
everywhere.
An employee directed a bunch of folks toward other entrances – and Brenda and I noticed an entrance for American Express Cardmembers. What the heck, I only have a Green Card, but that was enough – and we slipped into the arena. I guess we all didn’t have to be Tina Fey to enjoy a bit of a perk.
I bought myself a tour shirt and one for Taylor at 40 bucks a pop. At the end of the day, that didn’t seem nearly as outrageous as I anticipated. We found our seats, and Taylor met up with us in perfect time to make the beginning of the show. She was wearing an awesome red sequined blouse. Reg Dwight would approve.
For the next three hours, forget it. I cried from the downbeat, Hell, I cried when the place went black – that all-too-familiar anticipation. Hooted. Hollered. Cried again. Tried my best to be in the moment. This was the last time I would see Elton John play live. Read about it and see video HERE.
What a night!
Since Taylor lives in Brooklyn, there was no reason for her
to have to escort us back to Midtown. We said goodnight at the subway station,
and Tay went to the other side to wait for her train.
Brenda and I made it back with no problems. When we emerged from the subway, I swore I heard somebody calling me. Sure enough, it was Clyde Moser, who had come with us to Marie’s Crisis the night before. He and a friend had just gotten out of a show. In a city with more than eight million people, moments like this are priceless.
After a quick selfie, Brenda and I went to a corner pizza place and had a slice. We never say “slice” in Myrtle Beach.
We unwound in our room at Row NYC, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” still ringing in our ears.
This was a big deal for me as well as for my twin brother, Chris. We were 16. At that point the only other concerts we had ever seen were Fleetwood Mac on their Rumours tour in Miami [with Kenny Loggins and Chick Corea/Return to Forever] and Kiss on their Love Gun tour at the Forum in Los Angeles – while they were taping the Alive II album. Some upstarts called Cheap Trick opened for them, and we didn’t know what to make of them…yet.
We stole our dad’s ’67 Impala one night to check out the Kinks at the Universal Amphitheater a few months before the Elton show when they were out on their “Low Budget” tour. Dad is long gone now, and we never told him about that.
Anybody who knows me is aware that Elton John has been a major part of my life since I was a child – and my number one influence as a piano player. I have seen him seven or eight times.
The 1979 show was one of two early October shows at the Hollywood Bowl – part of Elton’s Back in the USSA tour supported only by percussionist Ray Cooper. I remember tripping out that the man himself was up on that stage – living and breathing – not very far away from where I was sitting in that open-air environment. It was almost too wonderful for words.
If you ever told me that I’d be watching Elton perform on his farewell tour at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, I might not have believed it. But that’s what happened earlier this month. Call it full circle for me – forty years later. And I’ll be damned if Ray Cooper wasn’t there – this time with some of the other old guard, namely guitarist Davey Johnstone and drummer Nigel Olsson.
Elton played for three hours. It was surreal. The sound was excellent, and from our perch we had a clear view of the stage. We were far away, but smack dab in the middle of the mezzanine. The fact that this was to be the last time I would see him live made me savor each moment as best as my undiagnosed ADHD would allow. But I tried to be in the moment as much as possible. What a night!
This is the first installment of a series of blog posts about my recent trip to New York. More to come.
Roger Yale 