Desert Trip October 2016 (Goldenvoice Brings Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones and More to Coachella Site) | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

The Hippie Chick said
I just entered the iHeart Radio contest to win a VIP Experience to Desert Trip. If you enter using my link, it will help me gain entries.

http://news.iheart.com/contest…..1lnl1i  

I entered using your link.

Er, um, never heard of an iframe. If you want to, you can email me the article and I can try to post it.

WSJ article by JIM FUSILLI

Desert Trip, the three-day concert held last weekend here, was a chance to honor and say a collective goodbye to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney , the Rolling Stones, the Who, Neil Young and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, once musical miracle-makers and now mostly predictable, seasoned entertainers. Given that it’s been quite a long while since they were near the top of their game, expectations needed to be managed downward. But for the most part, Desert Trip succeeded as a celebration and music event.

On Friday night, Mr. Dylan and his five-piece band opened Desert Trip with a defiant performance. Sitting in a semicircle with Mr. Dylan on grand piano or singing at center stage without his guitar, the group offered familiar Dylan standards and explored his more recent recordings: “High Water (For Charley Patton),” “Pay in Blood” and a poignant “Love Sick.” Mr. Dylan said not a word to the audience and after 15 songs, he and the band left the stage, returned to play a stinging “Masters of War,” and then departed, having set the bar high for the remaining acts.

Anyone who has seen the Rolling Stones in the past 20 years could have guessed much of the setlist, but the band delivered, especially when the blues were on display. Mick Jaggerbroke out his harmonica for several tunes, including Eddie Taylor’s “Ride ’Em On Down,” a song that will appear on the Stones’ all-blues “Blue and Lonesome,” an album scheduled for a December release. A nasty “Midnight Rambler” allowed guitarists Keith Richardsand Ron Wood to engage in slinky interplay. Mr. Jagger joked that Desert Trip was in fact “the Palm Springs retirement home for genteel English musicians,” but if the Stones are no longer dangerous disrupters, they can still rock the blues deep into the night.

Similarly, on Sunday evening, the Who performed without much edge, but plenty of muscle and enough special moments to allow the audience to revel in its legend. His voice faltering and with cues missed, Roger Daltrey had a rough evening, so what worked best were the extended outros and instrumentals including “The Rock” from “Quadrophenia” and excerpts from “Tommy” with Pete Townshend raging on guitar above the supple power provided by bassist Pino Palladino and Zak Starkey. In “My Generation,” Mr. Daltrey sang the line “I hope I die before I get old” without irony, adding, “We’re still here.” A triumphant finale of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” proved the Who was more than merely present.

Like a grizzled balladeer arriving to dispense wisdom on love and nature, Mr. Young opened Saturday’s show with a solo set of his reliable folk tunes. He was joined by Promise of the Real and guitarist Micah Nelson, who support him on his 2015 anti-agribusiness album, “The Monsanto Years.” The band gave the singer-songwriter’s early songs a lift, particularly with their pleasing vocal harmonies, but Mr. Young was determined to showcase “The Monsanto Years,” which is inferior to his most notable work, and his set lost its momentum before concluding with snarling electric rock.

Mr. McCartney’s Saturday night program was overwhelming, wonderfully so: With his long-time four-piece backing band, he dug deep into the Beatles catalog for relative obscurities “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,“ “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and a gorgeous version of “And I Love Her ”—and sang “In Spite Of All The Danger ,” recorded by the Quarrymen, featuring Mr. McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison , in 1958. During the dazzling 37-song set, Mr. McCartney embraced sentimentality without becoming maudlin, paying tribute to Lennon with “Here Today ,” written after his death; performing Harrison’s “Something ”; and inviting a clearly thrilled Mr. Young to join in during a three-song medley. Playing his knotty bass parts with disarming ease, honoring Jimi Hendrix by soloing on electric guitar on “Foxy Lady,” and moving to piano for his sing-along ballads “Let It Be ” and “Hey Jude ,” among others, Mr. McCartney’s performance was Desert Trip’s best.

The festival concluded with a performance by Roger Waters, who, like Mr. McCartney, went well beyond his most familiar songs. He revived rarities from Pink Floyd’s “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Meddle,” from 1968 and ’71, respectively, and explored the band’s brimming catalog by tying together songs from various albums into unique medleys. Mr. Waters also took best advantage of the festival’s 240-foot-wide, high-definition video screen above the stage with trippy or confrontational films and photography to support his ambitious prog rock, folk and highbrow pop. The result was an extraordinary spectacle.

Prior to the event, Desert Trip, which will be repeated here this weekend, was an easy target for snark by those who mocked it as boomer self-indulgence—Oldchella and Geezerpalooza, they called it. But delivered with admirable professionalism, occasional flashes of brilliance and even a touch of sentimentality, the music justified both lifelong loyalty and a three-day celebration. Whether it came along several decades too late or right on time, Desert Trip was an unforgettable experience.

Mr. Fusilli is the Journal’s rock and pop music critic. Email him at jfusilli@wsj.com and follow him on Twitter @wsjrock.

Here’s the picture used in the article

@Into the Sky with Diamonds