Moron Concerts (Or Should it Be "More On Concerts"?)

This past weekend I got to attend a concert with April. There was a warm-up act, a feature act, and a headlining band. I enjoyed the warm-up act, Silvertide, very much. They were a bit like The Black Crowes and that's more than enough for me. If Jessika is reading this she will get all giddy because Silvertide is from Philadelphia.

I'd seen Def Leppard before and I knew they always delivered the goods and put on a great show, even with the stupid encore games. I wasn't really looking forward to the headliner that night. No, I was most interested in seeing the middle set by Billy Squier.

I've always liked Billy Squier and for a time there in the late 70's/early 80's he OWNED the airwaves. He's got a great rock sound and voice and he's responsible for some of my favorite guitar licks ever. Having never gotten to see Squier I was really looking forward to his set, even though it would be just him and his guitar - no band backing him up.

I always felt bad for Squier because his awful prancing and his pseudo leotard found within the video for "Rock Me Tonight" quite actually KILLED his career. Guitar god turned writhing ballerina? Not good. In essence he is the epitome of the message behind the Buggles hit, "Video Killed the Radio Star". I'd always hoped that time would heal that vicious wound and Squier would one day make a grand comeback. After watching his set I've stopped feeling bad for the guy and hope he says far, FAR away from this day forward.

I expected a slightly different approach to his set knowing he would just be playing a guitar and not with a full band. What I didn't expect was a full-on musical "FUCK YOU" to everyone within the sound of his voice.

Of the many well-known favorites Billy could have played, he chose to do exactly TWO of the songs people would recognize and those songs were "reinvented" in such a way that even the hardcore Squier fans didn't want to hear them. While I liked the bluesy version of "The Stroke", it came far too late in his awful performance for anyone to care.

At the start of his set, he made mention of his reasons for hitting the stage and playing with only a guitar and his songs. He said that too many young bands were being handed record contracts these days and he felt it was time that people were made to appreciate "how it's done". His ego certainly hasn't been affected by 20 years of obscurity, that's for sure.

Then, rather than show us how it's done by...uh...showing us how he DID it back in the day, he chose to play songs that NOBODY, not even faithful Billy Squier fans had ever heard before. A full 45-minute set of complete jazz/blues/rock crap that nobody wanted to hear at all. I'm all for artists stretching their boundaries and continuing to hone their crafts, lay claim to relevance by way of musical growth, and yes, trying to give new life to a stalled career with new songs. However, it is not really a new concept to sandwich your new songs in between your hits in order to keep the audience interested and entertained. I've bought many a CD based upon performances of new material right after hearing the old material. I doubt I'll be buying any new Billy Squier CDs. I'm thinking of burning my old ones.

The sweetest plum was when he broke into the familiar riff from my favorite Squier song, "Lonely is the Night", only to stop and say, "I was just checking to see if you were still paying attention." Of course he did not play that song afterwards, nor did he play any songs anyone wanted to hear. he was nearly BOOED off the stage and rightly so.

Billy, if you're reading, let me just quote one of the few hits you did play that night and say, "Stroke me!". In fact, to prevent you from thinking I mean that sexually let me add, "Stroke me, you fucking arrogant has been!" God damn! Greg Kihn or Eddie fucking Money would have been a better feature act than your hackneyed, tired, pompous and boring ass. Christ, Billy VERA would have been more fun to watch and most people only know one, maybe two of his songs.

Now I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that HE killed his career, likely because he's an asshole, an asshole that can play guitar.

Being an entertainer myself, I know that you simply can't please everyone. I also know that you do have to try and please someone OTHER than yourself, especially when in front of a a few thousand fans. I can't believe that a veteran performer would forget such a notion.