show review
boogienwoogie Wed Aug 25 '04
232
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Kansas City,
Rank: 9 Posted: Tue Aug 31, '04 6:40 pm

Thin Lizzy ... We ARE smiling (this is Kansas after all) Joe Satriani ... Daaaaaaaaaaaaang Deep Purple ... Is that leagel...Someone check the state constitution...Can you have 3 headliners at the same place on the same night?

I ranked it as 9 (not sure how to rank or what to rank on) . I usually consider Boston as the best concert that I have personally been to. Mostly because of the sheer energy or the show. They played almost nonstop for 5 hours.

Next would be a 3 or 4 way tie with this show and Tom Petty and the so called "Senior Tour of Rock and Roll" ...Grass Roots , Gary Pucket, Deep Purple and Tommy James... and Rush.

I have never been to concerts for bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, or Kansas . So consider my ranking as about as nebulous as olymipic gymnastic judge scoring.

I bought my ticket about 3 weeks before the show 12th row stage left on Isle for $27.50 Every one I told about the concert would ask who's playing. I would say Thin Lizzy, Joe Satriani, and Deep Purple. They would almost always say Joe WHO? I never win anything ...but...3 days before the concert a coworker and I scored 30 of the "FREE" tickets and passed them out to every one who said Joe WHO? (The free tickets really cost $3.00 for parking and for a $5.00 upgrade some of the free tickets ended up several rows in front of my $27.50 ticket....Only in America!)

Wouldn't it be cool if some one set up on a 3 day weekend . Started Friday night and ran to monday night.; with bands like Phish, G3, all those listed above, and AeroSmith , ACDC , .38Special, Lead Zephlin and about 10 others I can't think of right now.

Of course I wouldn't be able to afford the tickets.

shinyranker Wed Aug 25 '04
232
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Kansas City,
Rank: Posted: Mon Aug 30, '04 7:52 am
Thin Lizzy, Joe Satriani, Deep Purple. Guitar Nirvana. Thin Lizzy came on promptly at 6:30 and were freakin awesome. I mean, how can you go wrong with John Sykes and Scott Gorham on guitar? They ripped. Period. The third song into their set, it started to rain, but so what. It didn't dampen the spirits of the band or the audience, and you could tell the band was very appreciative of the crowd's commitment to sticking it out and not heading for cover. Take my word for it, do not get to the venue late and miss Thin Lizzy's set. A rocking, fantastic opener. Like posted in other reviews, when you hear "Hey Joe" start to play on the PA between sets, get ready for Satch. Joe comes strolling out and the crowd erupted with screams and applause. Many of the attendees, including myself, bought a ticket to the show for the sole purpose of seeing Joe play. And boy did he ever. As we all know, Joe is the consumate musician. Soulful, melodic, technically brilliant. In a nutshell, "talented". The guy can flat out play, and it was fun to watch the reactions of the attendees as Joe is up on stage just ripping. Many times I saw people looking at each other with that smile that says "I can't believe how good this guy is." Joe was better than great. His set is layden with mostly new songs from "Is There Love In Space" and also peppered with his heavy hits. My fav - "Flying in a Blue Dream" . I can only hope Joe comes back soon. If he does, it won't be soon enough. And finally, Deep Purple. The name alone says it all. Rock and roll Icons. Steve Morse, born to play guitar. Roger Glover, born to play bass. Don Airey, the same. Ian Paice has not aged one bit and is so freakin solid on drums it's beautiful to watch. And finally Ian Gillan. What a strong voice. He had the line of the night. The lightening was flashing off in the distance, so the spotlight operators didn't climb the towers and use them because of the danger. Ian pointed that out to the crowd and mentioned how the band was partially in the dark. Because the crowd was so energetic and responsive to the first couple of songs, Ian stated, "We'll just have to bathe in the sunshine of your enthusiasm instead." Classic. The one thing about this concert that impressed me more than anything was the sound. Fantastic mix with each band. Every musician came across loud and clear. The sound guys deserve huge pats on their backs for this point alone. It made for a very enjoyable evening. Don't miss this concert when it comes to your town. Rock and roll is not dead. Far from it.