Desert Trip 2016 – Second Weekend
I just returned from Desert trip 2016. What an experience! Although I have been looking forward to this music festival for several months, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking forward to. The lineup featured six iconic acts from the 60’s; but was I looking forward to an historic event or real entertainment? The average age of performers was 72. Experience is great but would they be able to reproduce the vocal strength and musicianship of that bygone era? Surprisingly, yes.
We had excellent seats, actual floor seats. They weren’t cheap, over $1500 apiece. Eleven dollars for a single beer… can you imagine? A single beer for the price of a twelve pack. That did not stop me from having fun. Hey, this was a once in a lifetime experience.
The location of the event was on the same polo ground as the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, hence the derogatory name “Oldchella.” When we chose tickets on the right side of the stage it looked like we would have an amazing view. What we didn’t realize was, the stage is probably three-hundred yards wide! So, we had great seats, close to the stage but were still about 125 yards from the performance. Roger Waters and Mick Jagger did traverse the stage to our zip code. That was cool.
The size of the audience was huge, over 80,000.
Night One
First up, Bob Dylan. Earlier in the week Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Since he is an enigmatic figure I wondered if Dylan would even acknowledge the award. Nope. Dylan didn’t speak a single word during the concert. I haven’t listened to his material since the early seventies so I’m about forty-five years behind on my knowledge of his current music. So, before going to the concert I listened to his new stuff. His voice is more of a growl than what he sounded like in the early days of his career. I mentioned that to a twenty-seven year old Dylan fan. He said this is the Dylan that he loves. This is his favorite Dylan era, and by the way, the fan has seen over forty Bob Dylan shows. I just needed to be schooled.
On the huge video screen, there was never a close-up of Dylan’s face. The shot was either a distant view or a close-up of his back. He played a few of his sixties era hits and they sounded good. Since I wasn’t familiar with his newer material it was difficult to evaluate. Still… I saw Bob Dylan. That’s what I was looking for.
Next up, The Rolling Stones. Wow! Mick Jagger still moves like a young man. It was an amazing show. The Stones played a series of their hits that ranged from Brown Sugar to Miss You and even a tune from their upcoming studio album. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show - really excellent and entertaining… and I saw Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts. Until I witnessed this show, I never knew what an incredible drummer Charlie Watts is.
The evening ended with spectacular fireworks.
Night Two
First up, Neil Young. I was a huge fan of Young in the early 70’s. I loved After the Gold Rush and Everyone Knows This is Nowhere, all of the early stuff. Neil did not let me down. The first half of the set was just Young and an acoustic guitar along with harmonica, pump organ, and piano. He sang with the voice of a much younger man. His voice still sounds like he did in the 60’s. I was impressed. This may have been my favorite part of the entire festival. Then, Young went electric and there was a serious problem with the amplification of low frequencies. The overpowering bass guitar and low end distortion that didn’t work for me. Still, a great show.
Next up, Paul McCartney. I never saw The Beatles so this is as close as I’ll ever get to that experience. The show included hit after hit. Of course, Paul has no shortage of material to draw from. His backing band was incredible but a little too slick for my taste.
During Live and Let Die all hell broke loose including spectacular fireworks. The show was great and it was Paul McCartney!
Night Three
The “opening act” was The Who. This was the last performance of their two year, 50th anniversary tour. Roger Daltrey is still an amazing singer and Pete Townsend is awesome. My expectations were low because I read an unfavorable review of the previous weekend’s show. There was nothing unfavorable about this performance. They played all of the hits and Roger can still reach the high notes and Townsend can still do his signature windmill move. Best of all, the band has a young drummer that plays exactly like Keith Moon. This sounded like The Who in their prime. Pete Townsend did mention both of his deceased bandmates -Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Townsend noted, that both died from Rock N’ Roll.
Last up was Roger Waters, the former bass guitarist and vocalist from Pink Floyd. If anybody represents Pink Floyd it’s Waters. He sang many, probably most of the band’s hits. Missing was David Gilmour’s signature guitar playing. What wasn’t missing was a guitarist that sounded exactly like David Gilmour’s signature guitar playing. Still not sure how I feel about that. The show was awesome. The quadraphonic sound added to the psychedelic vibe of Pink Floyd’s music. Sounds were whirling around the concert field – voices behind, helicopters, and jets seemed to pass over the crowd. And the laser show! Amazing!
Waters’ show was not without controversy. He lost some of his audience due to his political opinions. I’ll just say… he’s not a Trump fan. Check out some of the YouTube videos of his concert and you’ll get the idea.
I decided to take a chance and upload a video from the show to YouTube – Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a tribute to the original guitarist and band founder, Syd Barrett. You should be able to view my video unless I receive a take-down notice. It is copyright protected material so I’ll be removing it in a few days anyway. So, if it’s not there… that’s what’s up.
All in all, this was an amazing experience and I feel quite privileged to have witnessed such an epic event. - Doug Marks
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