Tag: San Jose

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: 30 Seconds to Mars with CB7 at SJSU Events Center, 4/8/2011

30 Seconds to Mars, a few days prior. Thanks to Flickr user danford for sharing!

To their fans, 30 Seconds to Mars are as much a religion as they are a band. If you’d have said this to me a week ago, I wouldn’t have known enough about other fans to agree or disagree. Though the band released their eponymous first album in 2002, it wasn’t until late 2009 that I wised up enough to pay them some attention. In retrospect, I can only wish I’d have gotten on board years ago.

In 1994, like most other fifteen-year-old girls, I was swooning over the baby blues of My So-Called Life‘s “Jordan Catalano,” as most of us first knew Jared Leto. After the show was canceled, I followed his film career sporadically. I heard he was in a band, and yet because I knew him first and foremost to be an actor, I never even thought to give them a listen. In 2005, a friend and I randomly bumped into Mr. Leto wandering from tent to tent at Warped tour in Long Beach, but even then I was more interested in not drooling over his long blond hair than in checking out his band. It wasn’t until the adamant recommendation of a virtual stranger in late 2009 that I turned my ears toward the album that would quickly lead me to call 30 Seconds to Mars my favorite band (This is War). After finally getting to see them live for the first time Friday night at SJSU’s Events Center, I’m starting to understand why I saw licensed t-shirts printed with the words “yes this is a cult.” Continue reading “Show Review: 30 Seconds to Mars with CB7 at SJSU Events Center, 4/8/2011”

Show Review: Stryper with Cry Wolf, Skinner and Radio Friendly at Avalon Night Club, 3/5/2011

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

777 Lawrence Expressway in Santa Clara looks like any other nondescript building in any other shopping plaza.  Tonight however, there is a tour bus parked in plain view in front, and upon further inspection of the parking lot, there is a sign (from God?): “3-5 Stryper”.  Although the number “777” is not actually referenced by the Bible, the number “7” is traditionally associated with divine perfection.  So it is with little surprise that Stryper’s return to the Bay Area would be to the hallowed grounds known as the Avalon Night Club. Continue reading “Show Review: Stryper with Cry Wolf, Skinner and Radio Friendly at Avalon Night Club, 3/5/2011”

Show Review: Live 105 Not So Silent Night with Smashing Pumpkins, My Chemical Romance, Phoenix, The Black Keys and Broken Bells at HP Pavillion 12/10/10

My Chemical Romance poses for the cameras

Not So Silent Night really lived up to its name this year.  It was loud and booming in the half empty HP Pavillion in San Jose.  Unfortunately this made for some pretty bad sound, especially from the back of the room.  Why it was so empty I have no idea as the line up of Broken Bells, The Black Keys, Phoenix and My Chemical Romance seemed like they could draw a crowd (yes I’m leaving Smashing Pumpkins out on purpose).  Or was this a case of just too many disparate bands? Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105 Not So Silent Night with Smashing Pumpkins, My Chemical Romance, Phoenix, The Black Keys and Broken Bells at HP Pavillion 12/10/10”

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”

Show Review: Mika Miko, Judgement Day, Audacity, Mammoth Exploration Society at Nickel City, 7/27/09

Mika Miko prefer the red phone to Le Ballon rouge
Mika Miko prefer the red phone to Le Ballon Rouge

It’s not every day that I get a new favorite band, and that’s a good thing. I already own 160 T-shirts and four tote bags. I don’t need any more. But yesterday I did get a new favorite band, and it caused me to watch an entire set, something that never happens at Nickel City, where the siren song of Beatmania, World Stadium ’92 and Puzzle Fighter are too strong to ignore.

Continue reading “Show Review: Mika Miko, Judgement Day, Audacity, Mammoth Exploration Society at Nickel City, 7/27/09”