GrayStation Concert Tour

Well the Spring GrayStation Concert Tour is complete.

Friday, April 25
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Philips Arena in Atlanta. What more can be said about one of the best American rockers ever? He played two-and-a-half hours and never left the stage. Not bad for a 58-year-old. We realized there is a lot of Boss music we do not know. We have much to learn.

Wednesday, April 30
Bon Jovi at Philips Arena in Atlanta. Daughtry opened the first 45 minutes. Bon Jovi took over the next two hours and entertained like he was rockin' the 80s. A great moment was screaming "Oh, we're half way there. Oh, Oh! Livin' on a Prayer" at the top of your lungs with 20,000 other people, some with mullets from 1989.

To make me sound old, I first saw Bon Jovi in 1988 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Yes, 20 years ago. Stacy had to sit this one out as she was in Portland, Maine on business travel.

Sunday, May 4
Kanye West with Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D. (Pharell Williams) and Rihanna at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta. Started at 7:30, ended at midnight. What a show!

Lupe Fiasco was surprisingly good. He had a good stage show.

NERD just rocked the stage. Pharell is not the best singer/rapper, but his style of rock/skater punk/rap music is unique. Special ATL appearances by Chris Brown and Bow Wow on the stage dancing up a storm to one of NERD's jams.

Rihanna was disappointing. Now she did have a nice one-piece leather outfit on, but she seemed bored, even during "Umbrella" ella....ella....ella....

Just before the Kanye show, we spotted Quincy Jones on the floor meeting with some of the sound crew. That was a cool surprise - one of the legends of music.

Kanye came out for almost two hours and put on a theatrical Vegas show. His stage was built to look like an alien planet with a spaceship on it. He was the only one on stage, and his band was in a pit in front of the stage. His show was scripted and his songs told the story. He played it all and the crowd never sat down, instead opting for bouncing and throwing hands in the sky the whole night. He is going to be awesome at Bonaroo.

Whew. Time for a rest until we find the next block of shows.