Updated February 18th, 2019. These are part of the Museday blogs as I prepare to see Muse in 10 days from now.
I was able to buy tix to Muse's upcoming concert on February 28th, 2019. Thus these blogs take on a bit more urgency. I'm looking forward to it and my seats are much better. I hope Muse's opening acts are just as good as they are for twenty one pilots.
Last night I went with my daughter to see the Max Frost, AWOLNATION and twentyonepilots in concert. Short review, it was a great concert. For full setlists go to setlist.fm.
Now here comes the actual longer review. Overall it was a great performance by all three parties. It was a good first experience in seeing Max Frost and AWOLNATION. My daughter and I saw Twenty One Pilots two years ago and they were very good then. However they were even better this time. If you get the chance you should go and see this tour before it comes to it's end.
The opening act was Max Frost. He took the stage on his own and is a multi-instrumentalist and was able to play all the instruments on stage. In his very energetic set he played six songs. Frost doesn't have hit songs per se, but he played many of his best songs. I was pretty far back, so his live show lacked some intimacy. But that's no one's fault. It is what it is, it's just the life of an opening act. I do wish the opening acts would be able to take advantage of the video screens. That would enhance the concert for everyone involved. Many times the first opening act is an afterthought, but Frost was a very good addition to this bill. I don't know that he'll ever be a superstar, but he should have a long and successful career. Three songs stand out:
"White Lies":
"Money Problems":
"Good Morning":
After a 10 minute break AWOLNATION took the stage to the sounds of Louis Armstrong's "It's A Wonderful World". They played just shy of 50 minutes. As with the other two bands they played the exact same set as in previous concerts. AWOLNATION played 8 songs. Their highlights were "Kill Your Heroes", the sweet ballad "Handy Man", the cathartic "Burn It Down", the also sweet "Table For One" and of course closing with "Sail". My only complaint is that they didn't play "Not Your Fault", I love that song.
"Kill Your Heroes":
"Handy Man":
Did I hear an "Iron Man" tag at the end of this song last night? "Burn It Down":
This video captures their current stage set up. "Table For One":
Aaron Bruno, their lead singer, wrote this song. He told us that he thought only his family and a couple of close friends would ever here this song. Most people seemed to know "Blame It On My A.D.D." "Sail":
The song I hope they play the next time I see them in concert. "Not Your Fault":
Then after a too long 40 minute wait, in which we had to listen to the worse in between sets music ever, twentyonepilots finally took the stage. My daughter said she read online that the in between sets music was the loading music for Fortnite, a statement I wasn't able to confirm. TOP played a 22 song, two hour set. Their set had many highlights especially a four song portion they had early in their set. Starting off with video of red beanie floating over a city background which led into "Stressed Out". That video led into "Stressed Out" with Tyler Joseph donning a red beanie. "Stressed Out" led to "Heathens" (with a brief Josh Dun drum solo), which was followed by "We Don't Believe What's On TV" and that portion ending with "The Judge". A couple of songs later they played "Nico and The Niners" with a sky bridge that Tyler took to the B stage. Josh took a walk through a barricaded walkway giving fist bumps and high fives to happy fans. "Stressed Out" (featuring that red beanie video):
"Heathens":
"We Don't Believe What's On TV":
"The Judge":
That led to their three song set on the other end of the floor, where they played an "old one" "Taxi Cab", followed by two songs from "Trench", "Neon Gravestones" and "Bandito". They then headed back to the main stage and played "Pet Cheetah". A couple of other songs they invited Max Frost and AWOLNATION back to stage for the night's two covers "Iris" and "Hey Jude". They played these songs as they are and not for a joke. They didn't play these posts for millennial irony effect. Again it's only a minor complaint but along with "Stressed Out" I also love "Tear In My Heart". I wished they would have played "Tear In My Heart":
TOP closed out their set with the very good "Ride":
"My Blood":
"Morph" and "Car Radio". After leaving the stage briefly they returned for their encore. They played the very good and a bit more mellow "Leave The City":
Tyler said they have been closing their sets with this song ever since they were only playing to two people. That's quite a contrast to the sold out 12,000 seat Vivint Smart Home Arena."Trees":
I'm going to go see Max Frost, AWOLNATION and twenty one pilots tonight with my daughter. Honestly I'm looking forward most to AWOLNATION of all the bands. I'm not a big fan of AWOL's setlist though. This blog features their projected setlist and some songs I wished they would play in addition to or instead of in their current setlist.
1) "Run (Beautiful Things):
2) "Kill Your Heroes":
3) "Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)":
4) "Handyman":
5) "Burn It Down":
6) "Table For One":
Sneaking in some of Madonna's "Like A Virgin". 7) "Miracle Man":
I just got back from seeing "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the local theatre. And it was amazing, focusing on the 15 most crucial years of Queen's existence. From when Farrokh Bulsara was writing lyrics before going to his job at the airport to culminating in 1985's Live Aid. The movie ends with Queen's triumphant comeback performance at Live Aid. The movie does an amazing job at capturing their electric performance that day. Rami Malek is amazing as Freddy Mercury, he nails that role perfectly. I love accuracy in biographies, but the whole teeth thing was unneccesary. I never thought his teeth were that prominent. But that's my only very minor quibble with the movie. The music is great as expected.
Their Live Aid set:
While Mercury died in 1991, the other three members of the band are very much alive and well. In fact both Brian May and Roger Taylor still play with the current edition of Queen. I can't believe how much the actor playing Brian May (Gwilym Lee) actually looks like May. It was a great job done by everyone involved.
There's a pivotal scene where the band is arguing with the studio head about the "A Night At The Opera" album, specifically "Bohemian Rhapsody". The scene is made to be seen that EMI really missed out on a great album, but is "A Night At The Opera" really that great of an album? I will obviously give you "Rhapsody", that is without a doubt one of the best songs ever. Also "You're My Best Friend" is another amazing song. But I couldn't tell you a thing about any other song on that album. Well let's find out just how good of an album it is.
I do enjoy this song. 1) "Death On Two Legs" (Dedicated to...):
This is a perfectly fine little ditty, but is it much more? 2) "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon":
The much mocked song in the "Bohemian Rhapsody" movie 3) "I'm In Love With My Car":
Definitely a great song. 4) "You're My Best Friend":
A decent song. 5) "39":
Meh. 6) "Sweet Lady":
This is a perfectly fine little ditty, but is it much more? 7) "Seaside Rendezvous":
Kind of pompous and nonsensical. 8) "The Prophet's Song":
Meh. 9) "Love of My Life":
This is a perfectly fine little ditty, but is it much more? 10) "Good Company":
11) "Bohemian Rhapsody":
12) "God Save The Queen":
So is "A Night At The Opera" a great CD? I'd have to give that question a hard no. It's a perfectly pleasant CD, with two of Queen's best songs on it, but overall it's only an okay CD. I'm thinking about my next blog to blog about my favorite Queen CD, it likely will surprise you. However it's a CD I've loved most of my life.
I'm guessing twenty one pilots will be sticking pretty close to this setlist when in Salt Lake on Tuesday night. They are touring behind their latest CD "Trench" and in this setlist they play 9 songs from that CD, including "Leave The City" in the encore. I'm sad that they're not playing "Chlorine", that's one of my top 3 favorite songs from "Trench". Most, but not all, of the videos are from the 2018 tour.
1) "Jumpsuit" (with "Heavydirtysoul" Intro)":
2) "Levitate":
3) "Fairly Local":
4) "Stressed Out" (with "Red Beanie" Intro):
5) "Heathens":
6) "We Don't Believe What's On TV":
7) "The Judge":
8) "Lane Boy":
9) "Nico and the Niners":
B-Stage
10) "Taxi Cab":
11) "Neon Gravestones":
12) "Bandito":
13) "Pet Cheetah":
Back to Main Stage:
14) "Holding On To You":
15) "Iris" (Goo Goo Dolls cover) with AWOLNATION and Max Frost":
16) "Hey Jude" (Beatles Cover) with AWOLNATION and Max Frost":
17) "Ride":
18) "My Blood":
19) "Morph":
20) "Car Radio":
Encore
21) "Leave The City":
22) "Trees":
Songs that I wished they would play:
"Tear In My Heart":
This is one of the songs off of "Trench". "Chlorine":
On Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 my daughter and I will be going to see twenty one pilots, AWOLNATION and Max Frost in concert. I'm just finding out tonight that Frost is opening for the other two bands. I wanted to get familiar with his music, so that's the reason for this blog.
Max Frost is a 26 year old singer, songwriter and producer from Austin, Texas. (Thanks to my friends over at wikipedia.org.) These are the first 10 songs from his full length debut CD "Gold Rush", it was released just over a month ago.
1) "New Confessional":
2) "Good Morning":
3) "Slow Jamz":
4) "Money Problems":
5) "Put It On Me":
6) "A$$hole (No Apologies)":
7) "Eleven Days":
8) "Anxious":
9) "Stranger To Me Now":
10) "Sometimes":
These are some other songs that I like. I'm including this song because it's an actual video and you can see what Max looks like, this is "Nice and Slow":
"I don't give a damn who's president", well Max you should. It makes a big difference. "President":
"High All Day":
"$Dreams":
These are a few other songs he's performing during his six song concert:
