Events in Music: 2016

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, so before the year is out I thought it’d be interesting to get feedback on what events made your year, musically speaking.  What were your best moments this year, or any other time, that stand out?   Some well known venues said farewell this year with big shows-the L.A. Arena with Bruce Springsteen’s concerts, and Irvine Meadows with Gwen Stephanie.  Speaking of recent concerts, what does everyone think of the Desert Trip?  It sure had an amazing lineup with the Stones, Dylan, the Who, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Roger Waters.  It was organized by Goldenvoice, the production company behind Coachella.  I didn’t go but I know people that did said who that it was a positive experience, that the crowd was mellow, the music was really good and that everything ran smoothly.  For me, I really enjoyed seeing Ringo Starr this year–once at L.A.’s Greek Theater and again at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa.  My wife Sharon got us great seats for both shows, and we had a really great time.  Ringo is such a humble yet entertaining person, and his band played such a huge variety of music from all the members.  I even got to take lots of pictures without any problems, which reminded me of the shows I photographed in the 70s.  There’s plenty of my stories about that in Whole Lotta Led, starting in the Physical Graffiti chapter.  Back then, it was smaller venues like the San Diego State Amp, San Diego Arena, and the Universal Amp.  But no matter how big or small the venue is, concerts have to be fun.  Why else bother going?