by Julian Spivey
There are those classic concerts that you just would have killed to have seen in person: Woodstock in ’69, The Last Waltz (The Band’s farewell concert) in 1976 and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band anytime and anywhere. But, who would have figured that a “Saturday Night Live” after party could elicit such a response?
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Based on Twitter responses from ‘SNL’ cast members and after party guests the party itself was certainly a much better and more entertaining show than the ‘SNL’ season 37 finale that preceded it.

Rock legend and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger hosted the finale with guests Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire and Jeff Beck and performed three times during the episode. Jagger performed Rolling Stones classics with Arcade Fire and Foo Fighters and then an original blues tune that was inspired by the current political climate in the U.S. The Stones classics were great, but at times hard to hear. The original song was a little out of place and honestly pointless for the episode.

After Jagger’s hosting stint and the episode faded to black is when the real fun began to take place. I had certainly heard of “Saturday Night Live” after parties, but I doubt there has ever been one as epic as the one that took place late last night outside of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It’s just a shame that there is no video footage of it and that only those in attendance got to see it.

Outside of 30 Rock, Jagger, the Foo Fighters and current and former cast members of ‘SNL’ had one big jam session that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. If it weren’t for tweets from ‘SNL’ cast member, Weekend Update anchor and head writer Seth Meyers, The Roots drummer Questlove and “Live from New York” author James Andrew Miller, who were all in attendance at the after party, it’s possible that none of us would’ve ever heard of the shindig, which might have been for the better, because now many like me are highly jealous.

Miller tweeted: “Tonight in New York City, the best music could have been heard for free, right above rink at 30 Rock. #mick&foofighters”  

The Foos served as backing band while Jagger ripped through Stones classics like “Bitch” and “Miss You”, before they officially became the best fucking cover band in the world (from the sounds of it they didn’t play any of their tunes) playing Tom Petty’s “Breakdown”, Van Halen’s “Keep Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”, in addition to Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, etc.

Not only would I have killed to have seen Jagger and the Foo Fighters jamming past two in the morning, but the real highlight for me would have been when the ‘SNL’ stars of today and yesterday joined the group on stage to sing rock classics themselves. According to tweets by Miller and Meyers, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig joined the band for Joan Jett classics, Will Forte performed a Black Sabbath classic and Jason Sudeikis sang lead on a Cheap Trick tune as Fred Armisen took control on the drums.

How freakin’ amazing would that have been?

by Julian Spivey
Jamey Johnson brought pure country music to a packed crowd at the Toad Suck Daze festival in Conway, Ark. on Saturday night (May 5).
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Johnson is probably most known to country music fans for his only top 10 hit “In Color,” which was named both the CMA and ACM Song of the Year in 2009. He’s true country music at its core, which is probably the exact reason why he’s not as popular as he should be. Country music has gone pop and rock, but Johnson won’t.

The performance, which lasted around an hour and a half, was filled with many of Johnson’s originals with a lot of classic covers mixed in.

Johnson opened his set with “High Cost of Living,” the opening track from his Grammy nominated 2009 album “That Lonesome Song,” which in my opinion is already one of the greatest country music albums of all time. “High Cost of Living” got the crowd’s energy pumped up to maximum and it didn’t stop until 90 minutes later when he finished with the hardest rocking cover of Hank Williams’ religious anthem “I Saw the Light” that I’ve ever heard.

Among Johnson’s best originals were “That Lonesome Song,” “Place Out on the Ocean” and “Mowin’ Down the Roses” from the “That Lonesome Song” album and “Playing the Part,” “By the Seat of Your Pants” and “Macon” from his “The Guitar Song” album.

The best original altogether, though, was unsurprisingly his performance of “In Color,” in which the jam-packed crowd serenaded along too. “In Color” will no doubt in my mind go down in country music history as one of the 100 most essential songs of all time.

Even though it seems like half of Johnson’s sets are always (this is the second time I’ve seen him in concert) about half covers it really doesn’t bother me because they are always great and you know that he has to thoroughly enjoy playing them, even if the facial expression on his face doesn’t change once during his shows. Say what you will about Johnson, but I find it great that he doesn’t mess around with too much talk and flare and just plays his heart out.

Johnson’s best cover was of George Strait’s 2007 CMA & ACM Song of the Year “Give It Away,” which honestly shouldn’t even be referred to as a cover, because Johnson wrote it. It’s pretty special and interesting to note that Johnson has two Song of the Year statues.

Other fantastic country covers included Waylon Jennings’ (an obvious hero of Johnson’s and Johnson is the closest thing to Waylon that’s currently around) “Waymore’s Blues”, Merle Haggard’s “My Favorite Memory” and “That’s the Way Loves Goes” and Lefty Frizzell’s “Long Black Veil”.

Two surprising covers, which were amazing, were of Fats Waller’s jazz standard “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and Leadbelly’s blues standard “Where Did Your Sleep Last Night”. You can tell from covers like these two that Johnson is pretty much a lover of all around great music, no matter the genre.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Jamey Johnson in concert yet than you’re definitely missing out. He may not be heard much on the radio and he may not sell many records or concert tickets, but he’s the real deal in a genre and world lacking in reality.