Sheryl Crow Summer 2011 Concert Tour

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I’m quite ecstatic that Sheryl Crow has added dates to her 2011 Spring Tour and extended the run into the summer, adding east coast dates.  I was wondering what I wanted to do for my birthday, and Sheryl has decided to make my wishes come true and play some dates on out in the northeast/mid-Atlantic (for me, of course!). I have seen Sheryl Crow Live numerous times, majority of them occurred in the summer, once even on my actual Birthday in 2003.

My dilemma is which date to choose.  There is no NYC date, but the surrounding areas.  The dates in question include:

JUL 7 2011

7/7/2011

Comcast Theater Hartford, CT

 

JUL 92011

7/9/2011

Comcast Center Boston, MA

 

JUL 102011

7/10/2011

Hershey Pavillion Hershey, PA

 

 

JUL 122011

7/12/2011

PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ

 

If I had my way, I would go to each concert. But, as the Philosopher Jagger said, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” (credit Hugh Laurie, House, M.D.)

I did attend her concert tour last year at the Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ, but it was the opening leg and Sheryl and the band were still were out some kinks (no one seemed to notice, but i was aware of them–I’m not complaining, I find it interesting how the tour progresses.) Now I want to see the “100 Miles From Memphis Tour” all polished and practiced. Is that too much to ask?!

http://www.sherylcrow.com/events/

 

“All I Wanna Do: An American Existentialist Record” Part 1

All I Wanna Do is have a little fun before I die, says the man next to me out of nowhere. Apropos of Nothin’, he says his name is William, but I’m sure he’s Bill, or Billy, or Mack or Buddy; and he’s plain ugly to me and I wonder if he’s ever had a day of fun in his whole life…”

 

Cover of Tuesday Night Music Club

 

These lyrics open up the record “All I Wanna Do.” Released as the third single from the LP Tuesday Night Music Club, it made Sheryl Crow into a musical sensation overnight. This track almost never made it on the record–luckily it did; as it propelled Sheryl into international stardom and gave her proper footing to continue recording and producing music.

It’s part drinking song, part pop-rock fun, but mainly its existentialist lyrics and theme is what I believe makes this record timeless and philosophical. It reminds me of French Philosopher and Existential Philosophy icon Jean Paul Sartre’s novel, “Nausea” where the main character Antoine Roquentin is sitting in a cafe, watching and analyzing everything around him. He feels a sense of “Nausea”, a sense of meaningless and purposeless to his life and to life around him.

The lyric “apropos of nothing” itself can be found in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s existential classic “Notes From the Underground” various times.

….otherwise the bar is ours, the day and the night and the car wash too, the matches and the buds and the clean and dirty cars, the sun and the moon! But All I Wanna, is have some fun….

However, unlike French and Russian Existential philosophy, this song takes a uniquely American twist. Yes, we note the daily minutia of life, but as Americans, we are always looking for an escape. Sheryl and the other writers of this track juxtapose the dreadfullness of existentialism with just wanting to have fun, ‘drinkin beer at noon on Tuesday,’ until the day is done (the sun coming up over Santa Monica Boulevard) and the next day begins; where it is assumed this behaviour will repeat itself.

This track lays down a great framework of ‘escapism’ which the balance of the album conveys to the listener. I will discuss this theme more in-depth in my next post.

Credits: Baerwald, David Francis (Songwriter); Bottrell, Bill (Songwriter); Cooper Ii, William W. (Songwriter); Crow, Sheryl Suzanne (Songwriter); Gilbert, Kevin M. (Songwriter); ALMO MUSIC CORP (Publisher); IGNORANT MUSIC (Publisher); SONY/ATV TUNES LLC (Publisher); ZEN OF INIQUITY (Publisher)