LIVE! In concert! Besides Grace, I saw:

I was there!

LIVE! In Concert!

But now...NOTHING compares to front and center, floor, for Grace Jones at The Hammerstein Ballroom. It started with Freddie Mercury in 1977....and 32 years later, closes with Grace Jones.

I will be going to see DM on Monday at MSG, and I'll also see PSB in September at The Hammerstein, again, on the floor, but this just about kills it.

UNLESS SHARLEEN SPITERI and TEXAS tour the USA!

In no specific order, here's a listing of the various concerts I've been to. Not meant to be an all-inclusive list, it's pretty damn close. If someone played in New Haven, Hartford, Syracuse, New York City, Miami, Ft Lauderdale or Boston, and they were one of my favorites, chances are I was there.

I'd hate to think of all the money TicketMaster made off me via their "processing charges" over the years. I'll say this much: not only have concert ticket prices ranged from $6.50 - $100, some were, get this: FREE! Pretty much by taking a look at this list you can figure out which B-list artists were free.

Tops in the concerts-to-remember? Madonna (The Confessions Tour), Annie Lennox (Annie Lennox SINGS), Depeche Mode (Touring the Angel), Elton John (??) and, of course, Queen (News of the World).

Queen (CT, NY) (New Haven, Hartford, Syracuse)
Queen + Paul Rodgers (NJ)
Elton John (CT, NY, SFlorida, MA) (Hartford, MSG, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Amherst)
Dead Can Dance (Miami, NYC)
Depeche Mode (Miami, MSG, Jones Beach)
kd lang (CT)
Annie Lennox (NY)
Thompson Twins (New Haven: Agora Ballroom)
Sister Sledge(CT)
Ministry (Miami)
Cocteau Twins (Miami)
David Byrne (Miami)
Romeo Void (Toad’s Place)
A Flock of Seagulls (Agora Ballroom: Hartford)
INXS (Agora Ballroom: Hartford)
Billy Idol (New Haven Coliseum, Agora Ballroom: Hartford; Springfield)
Pet Shop Boys (Miami, Radio City)
Madonna (Hartford)
David Bowie (Syracuse)
The Police (Syracuse)
Black Uhuru (Syracuse)
Goldfrapp (Jones Beach)
Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez (Diva)(Hartford)??????
Tiesto (Constitution Plaza, Hartford)
Thelma Houston (Miami)
Gloria Gaynor (Miami)
Jackie Moore (Ft Laud)
KC + The Sunshine Band (Ft Laud)
Foreigner (Waterbury)
Cheap Trick (Waterbury)
Tina Turner (Hartford)
Ryuchi Sakamoto
Billy Joel (with Elton John) Miami

The White Diva of SoulAnnie LennoxMash-up by DJ Earworm

When brilliance collides.
Annie Lennox graciously lent DJ Earworm her multi-track masters,
and as only he can hear, this is what Earworm came up with,
coupled with a brilliant retake on Annie's visual makeovers.

Concert Video|Grace JonesCorporate Cannibal|Digital CriminalYour meat is sweet to eat...

video ©bernardlynch.com
Sony Cybershot DSC-T33

Artful Michael's kick-ass videosGrace Jones|LIVEThe Hammerstein Ballroom NYC30 July 2009

The only YouTube channel I've ever recommended.
And the only channel worth my recommendation.

kickASS videos of Grace at The Hammerstein,
30 July 2009.

And to think he was just to my right, with an iPhone!

Good work, buddy!

Photos|Grace Jones30 July 2009The Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC

Photos|Grace Jones; 30 July 2009The Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC

Scene on the train.I love cropping. Full-frame v crop.

Let's just say you had to be on the 12:17a to New Haven from Grand Central.
Then these drunk kids got on in Stamford.

Not surprisingly, they got off in Fairfield.

Grace Jones l La Vie en Rose l Hurricane Tour

Either you were there, or you're watching ArtfulMichael's videos!

Grace Jones, LIVE!22 March 2009|Paris FRANCE

Some time ago, a high-quality soundboard recording, broadcast live in France (minus LA VIE EN ROSE and PULL UP TO THE BUMPER) turned up. Excellent stereo quality, check it out here. Until a sanctioned live recording (they were seriously filming last night at The Hammerstein), this'll hold the die-hards over.

"Come on. Sing it! I know you know the fucking words."

Miss Grace Jones.The Hammerstein, NYC9:02p, 30 July 2009Setlist

This is Life

William’s Blood

I’m Crying

Love is the Drug

Well Well Well

Sunset Sunrise

La Vie En Rose

My Jamaican Guy

Corporate Cannibal

Devil In My Life

Demolition Man

Love You To Life

Libertango

Nightclubbing

Hurricane

Encore:

Pull Up To The Bumper

Slave To The Rhythm

Grace Jones, The Slave to the RhythmRocks, Rolls + Decimates The Hammerstein Thursday, 9pm, 30 July 2009; NYC

Halston. Cher. Bianca. Madonna.Beyonce. Warhol. Mapplethorpe.

Next slide please.

Flirting with surreality and bombast the entire evening, Ms. Jones stopped time and pulled the entire, sold-out, audience of The Hammerstein into her universe. And what a planetary convergence it was. Grown men shreiking like they were giggly little schoolgirls back in 1977. The tightest band I’ve ever heard, Ms. Jones did precious little to “demand” attention, because she “commanded” attention.

One word. One name. The solo moniker: Grace.

And in my lifetime, while I waited some 32 odd years to see her, the entire experience, from front row, center, some 8' from the woman who defines DIVA, it was, a transcendental experience.

Slave to the rhythm, indeed.

A slave to Grace.

Thank you, Ms. Jones, for keep on keeping on…

BREAKING!I saw God tonight!

And her name is Grace.

Jones.

Jones, the rhythm.

Grace|La Vie en Rose|Hollywood Bowl...NAKED!

I'll be seeing you! – Grace

Grace Jones|Discography

Portfolio (1977)

Fame (1978)

Muse (1979)

Warm Leatherette (1980)

Nightclubbing (1981)

Living My Life (1982)

Slave to the Rhythm (1985)

Inside Story (1986)

Bulletproof Heart (1989)

Hurricane (2008)

The 3 Faces of Grace|v03Robert Mapplethorpe

The 3 Faces of Grace|v02

The 3 Faces of Grace|v01

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

I see Grace Jones.

Grace Jones|Interview MagazineCover Design by Richard Bernstein

Versus.Andy Warhol v Grace Jones

GRACE! GRACE! GRACE! GRACE!

Time to get down, on my knees!Grace Jones|MUSE

The absolutely brilliant, tour de force, MUSE.
For some reason, this is, currently, only available on vinyl, and has only been issued on vinyl.
There is a 12" available of ON YOUR KNEES, and that is especially hard to find.

As this has never been released on CD, or digitally, enjoy it here.

Amazing Grace!

The Collector

Grace @ The Hollywood Bowl!

Grace @ The Hollywood Bowl 2009

GRACE!

Grace!Nick Hooker v. Karl Blossfeldt

Grace Jones|Hammerstein Ballroom 2009Fuck you, mama. I'm going.And there ain't nuttin' you can do to stop me.

NOTE!

The quote is a "revised" version of what Carrie White said to her mother about attending the prom in Brian DePalma's version of Stephen King's book CARRIE.

The movie is actually quite funny, full of campy, kitschy quotes. Piper Laurie does a great job as Carrie's (Sissy Spacek) religious zealot of a mother!

NO! I wouldn't say this to my mom!!! Actually, I asked her to go with!

NAKED GRACE!La Vie en Rose|Hollywood Bowl, July 2009

Versus.Grace Jones v. Karl Blossfeldt

Why Studio 54 Mattered.

Crowd|Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC

Review|Grace Jones @ The Hollywood BowlSunday 26 July 2009

At her electrifying Hollywood Bowl show on Sunday night, Grace Jones had so many lavish costumes it would've made the late Hollywood designer Edith Head swallow her sewing kit in astonishment. One of Jones’ most daring – and there were many gasp-inducing get-ups – was a giant, bright-red contraption for her sumptuous performance of “La Vie En Rose.” Part exploding star, part spiky rose, when Jones, 61, spun around slowly, it revealed her naked, well-greased-and-muscled backside. Je t’aime, scandalous exposure!

Playing an 11-song set, including her incisive “Corporate Cannibal” video, the diva of disco showcased her inimitable blend of physical prowess, art-rock theatrics turned up to operatic proportions and freestyle, kitchen-table chatter. Near the end of each song, Jones would disappear backstage to change, but she kept her mic on, sighing luxuriously between elliptical setups for the next number or discussing anything else that captured her attention, such as the night’s muggy heat, friend Michael Jackson (“We had a similar family”) or her son, who was playing in the nine-piece band onstage.

The Jamaica-born model informed the crowd that her son was half-French, but she refrained from identifying him directly. “He could be the one with blond hair and blue eyes, and you wouldn’t bloody know it,” she said, tittering.

Jones loves nothing more than a good riddle – of race, gender, nationality or any other identifying category that can have its limits, self-imposed or otherwise. Be whoever you want to be in the moment, she seems to say. Dress up for the opener, “This Is Life,” as a tribal zebra with an icy platinum mane perfect for headbanging, much to the roaring delight of the crowd, a mix of swanky industry types and WeHo partyers dancing in the cheap seats.

In “My Jamaican Guy,” she donned a red, green, yellow and black outfit that was nothing more than a shredded skirt and a few conveniently placed strips of fabric. Gwen Stefani, do you have your L.A.M.B. designers making copies of that naughty piece right now?

The tigress of downtown disco recently released an album, “Hurricane,” available online and by import only (for now). And although her famous contralto range has narrowed, she’s milking the lower half for all its smoldering power. Sounding like a satiated safari beast picking bones out of her teeth, her “Corporate Cannibal” video, in which her physique is manipulated to look like black, liquid sculpture, features some of her best vocals and chilliest lyrics in years. “Your meat is sweet to me,” she purrs as a bloodthirsty CEO.

The one undeniable flaw in Jones’ set may have been her curious neglect of the catwalk that cuts through the box seats. Has there ever been a performer at the Bowl who could have vamped on that little belt of stage better than Ms. Jones?

Tour of the Universe|Depeche Mode 2009Setlist|Monday 3 Aug 2009_MSG|NYC

In Chains
Wrong
Hole To Feed
Walking In My Shoes
It's No Good
A Question Of Time
Precious
Fly On The Windscreen
Little Soul
Home
Come Back
Policy Of Truth
In Your Room
I Feel You
Enjoy The Silence
Never Let Me Down Again

Encore #1
Stripped
Master And Servant
Strangelove

Encore #2
Personal Jesus
Waiting For The Night (Bare Version)

HURRICANE 2009|Grace JonesSetlist

01. Nightclubbing
02. This is
03. My Jamaican guy
04. Sunset sunrise
05. Demolition man
06. I've seen that face before
07. Love you to life
08. La vie en rose
09. Well well well
10. Williams' blood
11. Devil in my life
12. Pull up to the bumper

Encore:
01. Love is the drug
02. Slave to the rhythm
03. Hurricane

The Final CurtainMerce Cunningham DEAD!

Ladies and Gentlemen: Miss Grace Jones

SLAVE!

SLAVE!

Grace Jones|Pull Up to the BumperOriginal Video, Full-length

The Faces of Grace. Grace Jones.

Grace Jones by Andrea Klarin

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