WAR - AWB Great Combo @ HRL, Hollywood FL
by rMRx on 7/1/09Hard Rock Live - HollywoodRating: 4 out of 5I was a diehard fan in the early 70s, and really hoped that Eric Burdon was playing with them but, alas, he wasn't there. (Their website, plus others, claim that Burdon would join them for this summer 2009 tour.)
Lonnie Jordan (the only original member) and (new) harmonica player, Mitch Kashmar, and everyone were great, but the show was short by a few songs, and the band didn't come back for an encore (a real no-no in my book). War opened with a fantastic rendition of Cisco Kid that time warped up back to the early 70s. Concert included Baby Brother, Why Can't We Be Friends, Slippin' Into Darkness (my favorite), Spill the Wine, Summer, and an extended ("live") version of Low Rider that included band member introductions and short riffs of Shotgun, Sunshine of Your Love , Iron Man, Gypsy Queen, and what sounded like an approximation of some Santana song to show off the percussionist.
There was a rather long, drawn out song I didn't recognize really, that could have been omitted or shortened so they could have played something more classic. What they definitely missed was All Day Music, and they could have done that for an encore, or performed just one more song. Jeesh. War performed for about 1:20. Average White Band performed a very nice warm up set that included all their hits, plus a nice taste from their new album "Times Square." They sold and autographed albums outside during intermission, but we didn't do that. AWB performed about an hour. All told the concert was about 2.5 hours of music. At $70 per ticket (main floor, 13 rows back) that's about $25 per hour. Calculating entertainment in this way puts a fresh perspective on this type of expense. A corporate switchboard operator makes about $15/hr before taxes.