Music and Travel
Deep Purple can never disappoint! Absolutely great musicians, incredible acoustics, setlist which included some classics and new songs that sound really cool live. The sound was amazing, crystal clear and so detailed! Visual effects of the show were very special too.
I still hope it will not be their goodbye tour, and they continue making people around the world happy with their music and live shows!
The Rolling Stones exhibition at Navy Pier in Chicago is a great experience for every Rolling Stones fan or every fan of music history overall. When you enter the exhibition, there is “All access with Paul Natkin” gallery, which features amazing shots of the band taken by the greatest and legendary photographer. The photo exhibition is going along with video interview with Paul about his relationship and touring with Stones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X2Kj3rU6kY&sns=em). It is absolutely worth seeing this video. Paul can tell so many stories about the times touring with Stones, some hilarious moments, even details of stage design and many more. I was honored and lucky to have a guided tour by Paul which made the exhibition more interesting and valuable to me.
Exhibitionism does not lack for content. It includes a great collection of music, vintage guitars, rare instruments and lyric books, photography, stage designs, personal diaries and letters, fashion items.
It’s an incredible journey to the Rolling Stones world beginning with their early days living in a one-bedroom flat in Edith Grove which was recreated as a part of exhibition. This flat looks hilarious, it is impossible to find any place without unwashed dished or empty bottles. But there was an impressive collection of classic blues LPs instead. I think it is a great idea to show us their way of living at those times.
What follows are sound mixing boards and the recreation of their studio with an amazing amount of guitars and other musical instruments.
Of course, it is impossible to miss different variations and installations connected with one of the most iconic band’s logos in the history of rock music. This “Tongue and lips” logo could be found almost everywhere through the exhibition but there was also a section explaining its original design.
Other artworks include original paintings by Andy Warhol.
The Rolling Stones were one of the pioneers of the spectacular live shows, so their stage designs were really mind blowing. It was very interesting to see scale models of the stages and a video explaining the main concepts behind them and realize how much work had been done to make shows so spectacular.
The collection of stage wear and costumes is very impressive and contains iconic stage outfits from the beginning of their careers to nowadays.
The exhibition culminates in a backstage recreation and great 3D live recording of Satisfaction which makes you feel attending the Rolling Stones concert!
Buddy Guy’s Birthday Bash was a really great sold out event which took place at Buddy’s club in Chicago.
The Legend turned 81 young, but he is still touring all year, traveling all over the world, recording new music and his live performances are the greatest I have ever seen.
When Buddy is around, the place is filled with smiles, happiness and great vibes!
Many great musicians were playing that night, Marty Sammon and his band played an amazing show, everyone at the club absolutely enjoyed it, actually Marty was playing pretty much the whole night, filling the venue with real blues!
The rising star Quinn Sullivan was jamming with great guitarist Carmen Venderberg.
Then another young and super talented guitar player Leilani Kilgore appeared on stage with Earl Slick.
Jamiah Rodgers took the stage with a solo performance. It was really amazing to be surrounded by so many talented musicians, who absolutely enjoy what they are doing.
The show was continued by the two absolutely great musicians Toronzo Cannon and Kate Moss.
Gary Clark Jr. came to Chicago to celebrate Buddy’s Birthday too but unfortunately he didn’t play that night.
Buddy usually doesn’t play during his Birthday celebrations but this time he appeared on stage. The audience immediately began to dance and sing along!
Overall it was an awesome night of Blues! Buddy is still keeping blues alive, he is an inspiration to so many great musicians!
I visited Pink Floyd exhibition in London last week. Absolutely worth seeing it! It is not just an exhibition but a great virtual tour through all years of Pink Floyd breathtaking music. It is divided by sections, each of which is dedicated to a particular band’s album and contains not only musical instruments, hand-written lyrics etc but also many pieces of art that had a great cultural impact on live rock performance. Each section is definitely a small world that really amazed and impressed me. The last part of an exhibition is a live show which contains a great lighting and even laser show. Everything is just beyond the imagination!!!
Pink Floyd Early Years
The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973
Wish You Were Here, 1975
The Wall, 1979
A momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987
The Division Bell, 1994
Don Airey & Friends, what a great band! I was lucky to see them in Vienna for the second time, absolutely fantastic show, filled with so much energy and great music! If you have a chance to see their show, don’t miss it! Now I’m looking forward to their new album! 🙂
Many thanks to Don Airey, Carl Sentance, Laurence Cottle, Simon McBride, Jon Finnigan for the great show!
I was also photographing that concert, amazing experience!!
I think my love for music started with Deep Purple, that’s why they are very special to me. Later I discovered many other musicians but DP still means so much to me!
I saw Deep Purple 3 times during their Now What?! tour: in London, Moscow and very nice Italian town Brescia. Despite the similar setlist, all shows were different from each other! Ian, Roger, Ian, Steve and Don were great as always! It’s so incredible to see 5 legendary musicians at one stage. All 3 shows were filled with happiness, smiling people on stage and everywhere around. The band played their amazing classics and new songs, the sound was absolutely fantastic during each song!
“Now What?!” album is dedicated to the “Uncommon Man”, the greatest Jon Lord, who is sorely missed and always remembered. His music inspired and will always inspire so many people! Thanks for that, Maestro! “But the Man is still alive.. It’s good to be king..”
I’m looking forward to Deep Purple new album “Infinite” which will be released on 7th April 2017 and their Long goodbye tour. Anyway I still hope it will not be a goodbye, and they continue making people around the world happy with their music and live shows!
Ian Paice: “The music is infinite. The music is immortal. It’s a document in the same way you could go to a museum and see something that was done 300 years ago. It’s there forever, that’s infinite.”
The veteran Scottish rockers are back on stage with the new singer Carl Sentence (actually Nazareth introduced Carl to fans almost 2 years ago, time flies!!) I heard different opinions if the band should continue touring considering founding lead singer Dan McCafferty had to step down from the lineup due to health problems. But I think after having experienced Carl on stage with Nazareth nobody would have any doubts how great he is. In my opinion it was absolutely right decision to continue touring and recording new albums (hopefully!) even without Dan. They are keeping the great music alive and giving people an opportunity to hear it live! I’ve seen Nazareth twice and both shows were amazing, full of passion and energy!
Jane-M Photography 