Your last concert was to see who and when?

Paul McCartney August 9th Washington DC at the Verizon Center. Was the 5th time to see him always a great show. 38 songs 3 hours of classic rock.

Swampwater---Isn’t Lyle live just SO fine?! Great dry humor, too. When I saw him Kunkel was playing drums, great as ever (for you who aren’t familiar with Russ’ name, he was with Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor in the 70’s, and it is he playing the great part on James’ "Fire and Rain", with brushes).

Bdp24- I didn't get into Lyle's story telling and dry/offbeat sense of humor because it can be a bit off-putting to some folks.  It tickles my funny bone, but I'm pretty far off the norm on that axis.  I've seen him several times now over about 20 or more years; in a small venue with small "acoustic" type back-up, in a large venue with a rocking band, but this is the first time with "His Large Band".  All shows were excellent, but this took it to "perfection".  My wife and I would look at each other several times during each song with an OMG face.  I know Kunkel's resume and always enjoyed his drumming but this was the first time I saw him drum live.  It takes an extraordinary percussionist to really catch my attention but I was absolutely dumbstruck.  Each time he drew a song to a conclusion, each stroke was obviously, perfectly pre-ordained by the prior one and lead inexorably to the next.  And the same could be said for pretty much each vocal and instrumental part all night.  Something as simple as a short sax lick in the middle of a bridge was exactly as long (or short) and loud (or soft) and as mournful (or joyful) as it needed to be.  No more and no less.  

Euge Groove and Peter White last month at One World Theater in Austin, TX.  Great place for music  

Swampwater---it was with his Big Band that I last saw Lyle, and what a band it was! What makes a band that good is just what makes Russ Kunkel such a good drummer---what each musician plays serves the song above all, the parts being "musical", serving a musical purpose. A lot of musician’s play so to as impress other musician’s with their technical prowess, the results often being rather amusical, the part serving no purpose to the song itself, or being musically related to what any other musician is playing. I have found that the better a songwriter is, the more he values "musicality" in players , not necessarily technical prowess. The two are very different things. As the old spiritual expression goes, you can’t serve two masters ;-). Not that a very technically endowed musician can’t be very musical, or visa versa, but that is a rarity imo. I have found the two to have an inverse relationship. Others may, I have no doubt, disagree.