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Second-half comeback saved concert season
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame concerts were a flop.
After a flurry of concerts that hit Youngstown the previous two years, everything came to a halt as 2008 began.
That was because the two main venues had some issues. At Chevrolet Centre, a management change translated into a dearth of shows for the first six months or so. In Austintown, the Wedge was closed until late summer as that concert hall changed hands.
Basically, the first half of the year was wiped out. Fortunately, things got a lot better in the second half.
Christian mega-star Michael W. Smith came to the Chevy, backed by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, which sounded great in the cavernous arena. Trans-Siberian Orchestra put on its usual spectacle. Country stars Josh Turner and Jo Dee Messina teamed up at the Canfield Fair. Theory of a Deadman put on a solid show at the Wedge. Steve Miller Band played to a somewhat sparse crowd at the Chevy.
Other notable shows included Lonestar at Stambaugh Auditorium, and Candlebox at a rib festival in Salem.
The biggest disappointment of the year had to be the tragic Vocal Group Hall of Fame concerts, which were scheduled over four consecutive nights at Chevy Centre. The Hall wildly overestimated interest, and the final show had to be canceled because of almost non-existent ticket sales. Logically, the concerts should have been limited to two nights, and in the half-house formation at Chevy Centre. As it was, it just looked empty.
Here’s a countdown of the best pop, rock, country and hip-hop concerts that graced our town in 2008:
10 George Clinton (May 9, Chevrolet Centre). The funk kingpin from a timeless plane appeared via space warp amid a sweet-smelling and very suspicious smoky haze.
9 Hinder (Dec. 18, The Wedge). Yes, we have a thing for these party animals.
8 Michael Stanley (July 12, Ribs and Rock Festival, Salem). This was a unique night. It started with a deluge of Biblical proportions that left the festival grounds a flip-flop-stealing suction of mud. It was also devoid of people. Then, miraculously, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of ticketholders poured into the fairground minutes before the show started. It wasn’t really a miracle — they were all in their cars, waiting out the rain in the parking lot.
As for Stanley, everyone has seen him a hundred times, but it didn’t make any difference. He played his sax-driven “Stage Pass” glory years material.
He also told a great story about doing time in Newton Falls. “I’ve been a rocker for 40 years but I spent only one night in jail,” he said. “That was in Newton Falls.” Apparently the ride down from Cleveland to the boonies spurred his memory, although he never did reveal what he did to wind up in the clink.
Stanley also had kind words for the Youngstown-heavy crowd, noting “Half of my road crew is from Youngstown.”
One recommendation for next year: please make sure there is no late-night racing going on at the adjacent Quaker City Dragway. The cars were so loud they actually drowned out the music at the rear of the festival grounds.
7 Seether, Finger 11 (July 15, Chevrolet Centre parking lot). Living up to its name, Seether was very intense in this outdoor show. Their 90-minute set included at least a half-dozen of their well-known hits, and the band played in front of a video backdrop.
Finger 11 was another story. Despite having one of the biggest songs of the summer (“Paralyzer”), F11 displayed a lack of confidence in its own music, and sounded tinny compared to Seether. They did a pointless interlude of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs — even leading a sing-along of “we don’t need no education” (from Floyd’s ‘The Wall’) — during “Paralyzer.” It seemed out of place. Why did they fell the need to play something the crowd had heard before while playing their biggest hit ever? They even maintained the same beat throughout that interlude, like it was a dance number. It struck me as something a cover band would do (and think itself clever for doing so).
I didn’t get there in time to see the opener, Sick Puppies, but by all reports, they were the second best band on the bill.
6 Meat Loaf (Dec. 2, Chevrolet Centre). All these years I considered Meat Loaf a ... lightweight. But then I learned what a plus-sized crowd (4,000 in attendance) already knew. Meat, with his operatic approach, is the man. His staging of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” alone was worth the price. For that song, the meat man came out in a long-hair wig and prom tux, the look he had when he hit it big decades ago. His longtime backup singer, the great Patricia Russo, donned a flouncy pink prom dress for the duet, a melodramatic slice of high school romance.
5 Lil Wayne (May 10, Chevrolet Centre). Lil Wayne, the top selling artist of the year, totally blew up in 2008, and we were lucky to have him. But the evening was ridiculously slow-paced. Lil Wayne didn’t take the stage until 11 p.m., and the young and very well behaved crowd was nearing its limit. Concert-goers had to sit through four straight hours of local hip hop groups, and the sound system was so scratchy that night that it was torturous. I’m all for giving the locals time on the Valley’s biggest stage, but this went on too long. Fortunately, Lil Wayne was worth the wait.
4 Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, Saving Abel (Nov. 22, Chevrolet Centre). This was an old-fashioned arena-rock blowout. Individually, none of these bands is on the highest level (although Buckcherry is getting close), but collectively it was a hell of a lineup. One highlight came when Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd brought his new pal onstage: boxing champ — and hometown hero — Kelly Pavlik.
3 Lynyrd Skynyrd (Sept. 1, Canfield Fair). The old grandstand was a fitting place to catch Skynyrd, whose fanbase spreads over such a wide swath of age groups that the band can now reasonably be classified as Americana. It was an all-hits show that made it clear that — love ’em or hate ’em — Skynyrd is one of the greatest bands of all time.
2 Carrie Underwood (June 11, Chevrolet Centre). Country crossover superstar put on a show that featured a number of costume changes, but her voice still managed to shine through the glitz and glamour of those get-ups. Opening act Jason Michael Carroll had his fair share of fans in the seats, lured by his hit single “Living Our Love Song.”
1 Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Norah Jones and Perry Farrell (Oct. 29, Chevrolet Centre). This was easily the main event of the year, even if it was all politics: the Get Out and Vote tour was a voter drive set to rock music. The Beastie Boys (with a surprise cameo by Ben Stiller, doing an Ad Rock impersonation) had the crowd on fire. Sheryl Crow’s bluesy rock guitar sounded great. Ben Harper treated the crowd to his new material. Unfortunately, so did Perry Farrell, even though everyone was screaming for Jane’s Addiction-era stuff.