Bon Jovi

We just got our tickets for the Bon Jovi concert in Phoenix.
It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't spell his name. But last year, I discovered YouTube. I would put on my high-priced earphones (the tools of an earlier career) and rock back and forth in front of my computer listening to music I'd never heard before. Bon Jovi was one of them. I loved him. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristopherson, Sting, Rod Stewart. It's somewhat embarrassing to admit to never having watched or listened to them.
Janis Joplin and Melissa Etheridge. And there's a girl called Joss Stone who really intrigues me. In one of her clips she wonders around a huge auditorium in a sort of nightie and bare feet singing "Son of a Preacher Man" at the top of her voice. It's mesmerizing.
Nora Jones is such a lady. Tentative, and somewhat vulnerable, her music is full of the sweet small gems of genius. Diana Krall went to Paris to become famous. Much easier than trying to do it in Canada. I've seen this girl in concert in Calgary. Her "Little Girl Blue" is masterful. (Janis Joplin's? Whew!) Diana Krall, her husband Elvis Costello, and Willie Nelson sing together ("Crazy") in a concert and it's fun. She keeps giving her husband sexy little smiles.
I prefer songs in a minor key with a story line that breaks your heart. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore". I was amazed to "search" this song on YouTube and discover that no one does it but Barbara Streisand! Mind you, if she got to it first, and it became a part of her repertoire - who in their right mind would attempt to upstage her. She and Neil Diamond do it as a duet if they find themselves on stage together. I've grown into and out of Barbara as the years have gone by, but let's face it - she's an extraordinary artist. And when Celine Dion arrived, "Barbra" seemed such a relief.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Even Eric Clapton does this. And for opposites, check out a sensational and very dramatic concert pianist named Keith Jarret. His rendition will leave you gasping.
There's a songster in Norway - Sissel - she's been called one of the finest sopranos of the world. (What Child is This) Her voice is astonishing. The vocal chords of an angel or a saint.
Leonard Cohen. When I discovered YouTube and was still unaware of all that was out there, I listened to "Hallelujah" over and over again. His recent London concert revealed a true hero. He's very deep. His lyrics are very deep.
I listened to a concert pianist from China - "Lang Lang".
The "Punch Brothers" - the lead mandolin/banjo player makes Steve Martin and Earl Scruggs sound a bit weak. Ever heard mandolins and banjos do Mozart? These guys are magicians.
Simon and Garfunkle's concert in Central Park is another favorite. I've golfed many a game humming "Scarborough Fair". Paul Simon is on my list for further study.
12 years ago Bon Jovi and Pavarotti performed together in London - a fund raiser for Liberia. Jon is dressed all in leather. He looks great - much better than Pavarotti.
I like most kinds of music. Except opera. It seems to me that the artists I've mentioned can do more quiet, subtle and spine-tingling things to a set of notes than a whole stage full of opera singers ever could.