Review: Boston and Cheap Trick at the Forum in Inglewood, California

Hiya!

When I saw that the Boston tour was making a stop at the Forum in Inglewood, California, I had to go see them. There were no pre-conceived notions that this would be a super-great show, but I had never seen the band before and Cheap Trick was opening up for them, which is always worth the price of admission. Plenty of people think the same way, as this turned out to be a sold out show at the nicely-renovated facility.

To be honest, I did not even know that Boston was still together, nor that they had recorded a new album and were touring again. They band has pressed on after Brad Delp took his own life, having found Tommy DeCarlo on the internet to take on the singing chores and keyboard work, and he is pretty darned good. Of course, founding member and guitarist Tom Scholz still brought it to the stage, and the rest of the band was made up of guitarist Gary Pihl, Tracy Ferrie on bass, Kimberly Dahme on rhythm guitar, and god only know who was behind the drum kit. On guest vocals was American Idol finalist Siobhan Magnus, who also happens to be the niece of Ferrie.

Boston tore out a nearly two-hour set with over 20 songs, and it was actually pretty good. There were a few songs from their new album, Life, Love & Hope, but they mostly gave the crowd what they were looking for, which was all of their good stuff from the 1970s and 1980s. I do not know anybody who bought their newest album, do you?

Right out of the gate they hit it hard, starting off with “Rock and Roll Band,” “Smokin’,” and “Feellin’ Satisfied.” Scholz still has his distinctive chops (can you believe he is 67?) and his harmonization with Pilz was classic Boston. The band was tight, the vocal harmonies were good and DeCarlo was in top form. I have no complaints about their musicianship or their stage show.

The show did drag on a bit, and the few songs they did from their new album were certifiable yawners, but they played almost everything from their got-to-have-it double album. Boston did not leave out their gems, including “Peace of Mind,” “It’s Been Such a Long Time,” “Don’t Look Back,” “Amanda,” “More Than a Feeling” and “Long Time.” This was fortunate and made up for the sometimes ponderous pace.

It turned out that Boston’s performance was actually worth the price of admission. So, Cheap Trick’s set was like icing on the cake. I have seen them quite a few times over the past 30 years as they performed with bands such as Night Ranger and Aerosmith, and they have never disappointed.

They have been doing the same act for so long that you would think they would tire of it, but they still bring plenty of energy to each show. Robin Zander sounded way better than he did last year with Aerosmith, and at 61 he is showing no signs of slowing down. Rick Nielsen is still a total goofball, and his guitar skills have not faded. Tom Petersson did a passable job on bass, though I wish he had left the solo out. And there was a surprise behind the drum kit as Bun E. Carlos has stomped off and is suing the band, so Nielsen’s son Daxx was on the skins, and it was immediately obvious that Carlos made a mistake. Daxx is a much better drummer, and Bun will not be missed. Hah!

Cheap Trick mostly focused on their hits during their one-hour set, and they really brought their A-game. They included crowd favorites such as “Ain’t that a Shame,” “Surrender,” “Dream Police,” and I Want you to Want Me.” Every new rock band that is hitting big should be required to see a Cheap Trick show, or better yet, have to take them on tour with them so they can teach them what a real rock show is all about.

So I have to call the evening a success. If you have the chance to see Boston, see them. If Cheap Trick is on the bill too, definitely go see them. Trust me!

Mahalo!

The Fabulous Forum of Inglewood, California

Hello!

The Forum is the venue that I have seen the most concerts in over the years, starting back in 1984 when I caught Yes there for the 90125 tour. Since then I have seen bands from all genres including Rush, Tool, and Muse, and many others that have faded away in my mushy brain. Plus, I was a King Hockey season ticket holder back in the early 1990s, so I am pretty familiar with this arena. And I have to say, last month I saw the Eagles at the newly renovated Forum Presented by Chase, and I was blown away.

The Forum is located just east of Los Angeles International Airport in Inglewood, California. It was built in 1967 by Jack Cooke, the owner of the Lakers at the time, to house his new NHL team -- the Kings. It cost $16 million to build and was styled after the Roman Coliseum. Sort of.

Every type of event that you can imagine took place at the forum over the next 40 years. The Lakers won multiple championships, the Kings almost won a championship, and boxing and wrestling matches were common. But there were also concerts galore, and every big name band played on its stage, from Elvis to Led Zeppelin to Michael Jackson. There were also a lot of live albums recorded there, including the Eagles Live and Kiss Alive.

As times and demand changed, it turned out that the design of the arena did not allow for extensive concessions or revenue-generating skyboxes, and eventually the Kings and Lakers departed for Staples Center in the late 1990s. A church purchased the Forum in 2000, and would hold services for its 12,000 members there and continued to rent the facility out for concerts, and its condition deteriorated as maintenance was deferred. By the time I saw Muse there a few years ago, the Forum was a dump and pretty gross.

After a dozen years of benign neglect, Madison Square Garden purchased The Forum for $23.5 in June of 2012, renamed it The Forum Presented by Chase (title sponsor, you know),and promised to dump $50 back into the facility. It was money well spent! They painted it red again, like it should be, and spent the cash in the right places.

For starters, they have turned the building into a dedicated concert arena, and there is no pressure to turn it into a basketball arena or hockey rink multiple times per month. This allowed them to fix the acoustics and install permanent PA features to provide the best sound possible. The scoreboard has been gone for years, which is was a huge improvement all by itself.

The lobbies, Forum club and concession areas are all completely re-vamped, and it has a lot classier feel. All of the seats have been replaced, the old ceramic floor tiles have been swapped out with carpet, and the signage no longer has the 1970s vibe. Most impressively, they re-did the restrooms and the “trough of glory” has been removed from the men’s rooms and been replaced by urinals! Very exciting! Also, they have installed modern food choices beyond the former hot dogs, nachos and beer. Of course the food and drinks are not exactly cheap, but are they ever when you go out to see a show?

Keep in mind that this is a 46-year old facility design and there was only so much they could do. There are still no skyboxes, you still have to go down a million stairs to the basement to find a restroom, and there is not really any good placed to sit around and enjoy a drink or two, except for your seat. By the way, the capacity of the building is now 17,500.

This all came together for me last month when I attended the History of the Eagles concert on the grand opening night for the new facility. I have never heard an indoor concert that sounded as good and they were able to accomplish this at a reasonable volume level that did not make my ears ring afterwards. The staff was fantastic and most everything went very smoothly

My only criticism for the evening was the way that the City of Inglewood handled traffic, and the terrible parking situation at the Forum. Back when I had Kings season seats they had all of that figured out and getting in and out of the parking lot was not too bad. Apparently the powers that be have forgotten everything they learned years ago, and it was a fight through nasty gridlock to get into a parking spot located half a mile away in a dimly lit park of the Hollywood Park lot. I barely made it to my seat in time for the start of the show. I’m sure they will figured that out pretty quickly. At least the parking lot staff was as nice as everybody else that worked there!

So, if you are interested in any of the shows coming up at the Fabulous Forum, it is a real player again and you really ought to consider checking it out for yourself. I would not hesitate to go back again!

Mahalo!

MusicMan Month: The Ernie Ball Forum

To close out MusicMan month, I thought I would talk a little about the official MusicMan forums. You can find them online at ernieball.com/forums

These forums are sponsored by the Ernie Ball company, and support both the Ernie Ball and MusicMan products. It is an online community of people that are enthusiastic about the products, with the added benefit of factory support. It is divided into strings, guitars, basses as well as a current events section.

If you have a question about your guitar, there is somebody there that can answer questions. Ernie Ball employees monitor the forums, and can help out if you have set-up questions, or want to know when your guitar was built. You can also go there to find guitars and basses for sale, or sell your own guitar.

But, the best part of the forum is the sense of community that you will find there. You can see that the Ernie Ball company really cares about your ownership experience. Sterling Ball and his sons regularly participate in forum discussions and can help explain why their guitars and strings are made the way they are, and even help explain company history and marketing ideas. It is rare to find a company where the people in charge are so willing interact with their customers so regularly and openly.

They also provide sneak peeks of upcoming products and technologies. These insider views are fascinating for people like me (with the side benefit of generating product interest and sales).

Also, there are special events for forum members, most notably being the open houses at the factories in San Luis Obispo and Coachella a few years back. A number of their endorsed artists attend these gatherings and hang out with the unwashed masses, including Tony Levin, Steve Morse, Cliff Hugo and Steve Lukather.

There are also smaller gatherings every now and then, which is a good opportunity to bond with like-minded folks. I am happy to say that I have made a few new friends (not even imaginary ones) through these events.

Anyway, if you get a chance, head on over to the Ernie Ball forums. You will learn something new about their products, and get the chance to meet some great people.

Thank you for your patience during MusicMan month! Next month the blog will be back to the usual variety of instruments, equipment and albums reviews.

Hugs!