Tag: HP Pavilion

Show Review: The Package Tour – New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, and 98° at HP Pavilion, 7/7/2013

NKOTB: still the only boyband for me.
NKOTB: still the only boyband for me.

In the little world that exists between the New Kids on the Block and their fans, I’m what’s affectionately referred to as a “BH:” a Blockhead. I don’t say this with any level of chagrin or irony, and there’s nothing I feel guilty about in the pleasure I take from this group. The fact of the matter is, I’ve loved them for more than 25 years, and at this point, I don’t feel the need to explain or justify that to anyone who doesn’t get it. (And honestly, why do we feel the need to ridicule each other for something that brings us joy?) If anybody is experiencing anything like the fun I have with the NKOTB, I would be a fool to try to tear it down – that’s the kind of thing I think we ought to seek out and celebrate! Which is exactly what I did, when The Package Tour (NKOTB, Boyz II Men, and 98°) pulled up to HP Pavilion last night in San Jose. Continue reading “Show Review: The Package Tour — New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, and 98° at HP Pavilion, 7/7/2013”

Show Review: Rush at HP Pavilion San Jose, 11/15/2012

Rush in Gainesville, VA, earlier on this tour. (Click to see more from this show by Flickr user Sofafort.)

A Rush concert feels like a family reunion made up of people who are meeting for the first time. Everyone dresses in their coolest Rush t-shirt and heads out to the arena, ready to air drum along to classic hits and rarely played deep cuts, and find new favorites among the new material. For unlike other bands approaching 40 years in the business, Rush fans still stay in their seats (or in the case of the floor, stand by their seats) for songs from the new albums. Tonight, Rush was bringing their Clockwork Angels tour to San Jose, and it was full of the familiar, as well as full of surprises. Continue reading “Show Review: Rush at HP Pavilion San Jose, 11/15/2012”

Show Review: Coldplay with The Pierces and Metronomy at HP Pavilion, 4/28/2012

Jonny Buckland and Chris Martin (with Guy Berryman in background)

To most of the fans in attendance at HP Pavilion this past Saturday night, I might have seemed crazy… or at least like I’ve been living under a rock since 2000. That’s not to say that I’ve never heard of Coldplay, or don’t enjoy the singles I’ve been hearing over the years, or that I dislike them. I just never caught the fever. Much like U2, Coldplay was always a band I liked, but had never gotten rabid about like their hardcore fans. In my experience, when I feel that ambivalent about a band, I often think that most of their songs sound the same. I remember when “Yellow” came out: I was 21, and I loved it. And after that, for some reason, I never paid much attention. But here I am, 12 years later, and the opportunity to see (and review) them falls into my lap – do I go? Hell yes! I couldn’t pass up a chance to see what all the fuss was about, and I knew I’d leave the show with a forever “meh” attitude about them, or come home having caught the fever…

Continue reading “Show Review: Coldplay with The Pierces and Metronomy at HP Pavilion, 4/28/2012”

Show Review: Linkin Park with Prodigy at HP Pavilion, 2/22/2011

Chester Bennington, bathed in the spotlight. (All photos on this post by Alan Ralph.)

I make no secret of the fact that A Thousand Suns was my favorite album of 2010. I’ve been jeered by other music nerds many times for this.  Then, when hanging out near the box office trying to buy a decent ticket to last night’s show, one woman said “It’s not completely sold out, I guess. Because the new album’s no good.” Now this may be the conventional wisdom of a lot of Linkin Park fans, including many in attendance at the HP Pavilion last night, but they’re wrong. It’s a great album that’s pushed the band and their live show about a thousand times forward. Continue reading “Show Review: Linkin Park with Prodigy at HP Pavilion, 2/22/2011”

Show Review: Paramore with Tegan & Sara and New Found Glory at the HP Pavillion, 9/17/10

The night I got notified that I was getting the opportunity to see the Honda Civic Tour, I was ecstatic. The lineup looked extremely star-studded: Paramore, Tegan & Sara, and New Found Glory. I haven’t seen any of these bands perform with the slight exception of New Found Glory, whom I watched from afar a year or two ago when they were traveling with the Warped Tour. With the way my night started, I was afraid that the rest of the night would go horribly. Luckily for me, these bands did not let me or the rest of the packed stadium see a dull moment.

Continue reading “Show Review: Paramore with Tegan & Sara and New Found Glory at the HP Pavillion, 9/17/10”