John, Paul, George, Ringo, Elvis, Frank, Jerry & Me

My first live concert of note was The Beatles, at D.C. Stadium (Washington D.C., my birthplace), in 1966. I was 12 years old, and it was the foundation of a lifetime of concert-going. I also had the privilege of seeing Elvis Presley before he left the building, in 1975. Later, I became infatuated with The Grateful Dead, and saw them play more than two dozen times! Later still, in the eighties, I fell in love (metaphorically) with the aging-but-still-vital Frank Sinatra, and began making semi-annual trips to see him perform live in Las Vegas.

Of course, Elvis and Frank are gone now, as are many of the creative forces behind The Beatles and The Dead (John, George, Jerry Garcia--and a roster of deceased Grateful Dead keyboardists that eerily resembles the many departed drummers of parody band Spinal Tap--should all Rest In Peace). In the cases of Sinatra and Garcia, I've spent so many hours with them, live in performance, over the years, that they feel like long-lost friends. I cherish the time I spent with them. And their absence from our world makes my many wonderful memories of them that much more precious.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting individual, specific recollections of my time spent with each of these talented and memorable artists.

Blog Virgin: my first post

To whomever may stumble upon these musings: a hearty greeting!

This first post is just to let you know that this is my first post to my first blog... ever! Once I press 'publish,' my innocence will be lost forever. Thank you for joining me on this momentous--and blushingly tardy--occasion.

And what do I have to offer? Amazing anecdotes, mercurial memories, and cogent analyses of notable live music experiences, both past and present. Reports from clubs, arenas, concert halls, theaters, festivals, and other more esoteric performance spaces will fill these pages. Some will be glances backward, at some of the most significant musical artists of the past half-century. Others will be current and timely reports of the shows I'm attending in the very busy present. Most of these will be in either Southern California or New Orleans, La. (With occasional ventures beyond, like the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco...)

So, stick around... and check back often for new posts. It'll be worth your while. As Al Jolson famously said, you ain't seen nothin' yet...