MSG at House Of Blues, Chicago, USA

26th November 2001

Well it was a show to remember to say the least. The sounds of Louis Armstrong blared out over the P.A. ("What a Wonderful World"). Then he took the stage,opening with Into The Arena! He did some rare nuggets like "Desert Song",and "Lost Horizons"...but the fun of the whole show was when Pete Way stumbled on the stage. Pete was so messed up on something that he was staggering around the stage,not playing properly,and in between songs...rambling on about Chicago and how he loved us,and Michael and the band..etc..etc... I am a HUGE fan of Pete Way...whether in UFO or Fastway or whatever...and he was beeing jeered!!!!! His fans were actually pissed off at him showing up that messed up. Needless to say,if he keeps up this way of living,he will not be on stage to much longer with Michael and his band.

Speaking of Michael..he was looking very road weary already! He has his trademark blonde hair...but he looks like Charles Manson...or a hermit who finally came out of his cave..and forgot to go shave and take a shower. He did however move around more than I can ever remember,and he did KILLER versions of Are You Ready To Rock...Assult Attack...Attack of the Mad Axeman..Armed and Ready and only UFO song was Doctor Doctor. Pete stumbled back on stage and thought he was going to ramble on about Chicago and everything else on his drunken mind. The band however(including Michael) kept going over his rambling until finally he gave up and just played. Michael did apologize once for his bandmate..and seemed pretty pissed off at him after the show. I am going again Wednesday Nov 28,and I think it's just MSG playing...no opening band..and TWO for ONE tickets!!!!!! I gave the show on a scal from 1-10 a strong seven. My buddies gave it a six...saying he played too many new songs..and not enough UFO/OLD MSG...His playing was very passionate and he only slipped up 2 times I can remember...Wish all Michaels fans could be here Wednesday.....

Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Stoney in Chicago (David Stone)