On April 18, 2007, the New York Rangers baked three pucks into a giant sponge cake outside Madison Square Garden the day of Game 4 of their first round series against the Atlanta Thrashers. They then got 10 diehard Rangers fans to jump into said cake. If you found one of the three pucks, you got tickets to the game. I was one of those fans, and came up short. BUT my boss at the time, Joe Pardavila, also jumped into the cake, and gave me his puck. I found this tape of the event in my archives (it was given to me by the fine folks at MSG) and thought it might be fun to digitize and put it out there for a good laugh.
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Originally Published: November 25, 2008, on 1050ESPN.com (Now ESPNNewYork.com)
After an eight year hiatus, that little devil in the school boy outfit (that still fits so well at 53 years old) and his old mates have come around once again with their new album, Black Ice. Of course, I am talking about AC/DC.
Along with a new album, is a new tour, and I was fortunate enough to acquire tickets to not one, but TWO concerts in the area. Out of the sky fell a pair of tickets to the November 13th concert at Madison Square Garden and out of my own pocket I acquired a four pack to the November 19th concert at the Izod Center. Since it seems to be a mandatory obligation to comment on concerts for us 1050 Bloggers, I have come here today to sing the praises of one of my all-time favorites.
For the music lovers out there, be sure to read up on the other 1050 Blogs here because music is a big part of our lives, and John Broder was one of my lucky office mates to come with me to the Izod Center and will have an equally interesting take on the concert. Also, be sure to check out Joey Salvia’s new CD Long Lost Weekend. Honestly, I was really impressed with how good it was. You can check out Joey’s page to find out how to grab the CD. Here are the links:
John Broder’s View From the Suite Seats
Joey Salvia’s Long Lost Weekend
Now that the plugs are over, back to business. Since I’ve been listening to it non-stop for the past three weeks, I’ll start with the new album. If you are a fan of AC/DC, this is a must have. Most of the tracks are amazing, although I admit that there were a couple that sounded like the same song, just with different lyrics. The single off the album, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train”, is an instant classic that will have you singing along in no time. There are so many other great songs on the album, from “Money Made”, “Anything Goes,” “Big Jack”, and my pick for the theme of Iron Man 2, “War Machine”, that you should go get this album right now if you haven’t already.
In terms of the concerts, all I can say is AMAZING! Even well into their 50s, these guys know how to put on a show and make sure their fans go home happy. As to be expected, they played a few songs from the new album since it is the Black Ice Tour, but they pulled out a lot of their classics and left mine and many others’ throats hoarse from screaming and singing along. From Angus pulling off one of the most amazing solos in the history of rock ‘n’ roll when they break out “Let There Be Rock” to the cannons firing with “For Those About to Rock”, this is one of the must see rock experiences of your life if you get the chance.
Even the opening act, a band from Ireland called The Answer, was awesome and got the crowd revved up. I expect good things from those guys in the future, but the night belonged, of course, to AC/DC.
The only disappointing thing was that they played the entirely same set in both concerts. Here was the set list (and yes, supposedly they are mixing it up a little bit in different cities which disappointed me even more):
1. Rock N’ Roll Train
2. Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be
3. Back In Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
6. Thunderstruck
7. Black Ice
8. The Jack
9. Hells Bells
10. Shoot to Thrill
11. War Machine
12. Anything Goes
13. You Shook Me All Night Long
14. T.N.T.
15. Whole Lotta Rosie
16. Let There Be Rock
Encore:
17. Highway To Hell
18. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
An interesting difference was that I never noticed how good the acoustics were in the Izod compared to Garden, but when you think about it, the Garden was never really built for concerts; it was technically built for the circus. Anyway, the NYC crowd I felt was much stronger than the Jersey crowd and that disappoints me because, well, I’m a Jersey boy. I wanted us to represent a little more. Even with the nice acoustics, we didn’t sound nearly as loud as the NYC crowd even though both venues were sold out.
Aside from that though, I can’t stress enough how great this new album is and that if you’ve never seen them live, AC/DC is one of the must sees of your lifetime if you are any degree of a rocker. You won’t regret it.
-Ray Carsillo
RayCarsilloWrites.com 