40 Years Ago Today....

When my husband and I go to concerts and entertainment venues we have a lot of choices. Not only can we go to Brooklyn venues, we can go north into Manhattan, or east to Long Island.

Long Island was certainly given the right name -- from tip-to-tip, New York Harbor to Montauk Point, it's 118 miles long. Brooklyn, the borough of New York City that I live in is located in the western most part of Long Island, with the borough of Queens to the east, and then further east are the counties of Nassau and Suffolk.

Last week my husband and I went to Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, which is an outdoor amphitheatre, located at Jones Beach State Park located in Wantagh, in Nassau County of Long Island, NY. (all photos click on to enlarge)

The 15,000 seats are entirely outside, and it's a favorite summer concert location.

There are some pretty views of the bay and the ocean from the theater seats.

My husband and I were treated by our daughter for our June birthdays with tickets to see my husband's all time favorite rock group called "Jethro Tull." The group's 40th anniversary tour performance was at Jones Beach Theater August 9, 2008.

Guitarist Peter Frampton was the opening act and he did a great set of all his hits, including the song "Show Me The Way." He is best known today for his solo work in the mid-1970s and as being one of the original members of the band "Humble Pie." His solo album "Frampton Comes Alive!" is one of the best selling live albums of all time. He ended his set with a wonderful rendition of The Beatles' George Harrison's hit "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Next up was Jethro Tull, with the only original band member and lead singer Ian Anderson, who lead the current group through a forty year retrospective of their greatest hits, including the songs "Aqualung," "Locomotive Breath," and a song he dedicated to Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, called "Too Old To Rock and Roll, But Too Young To Die."

Photos of all their album covers flashed on the big screen behind them all night. It was a rocking good time!

This past weekend we went to see a fun new show that just began touring, a tribute to the Beatles album "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band."

The second show in their limited engagement tour, was held at The Capital One Bank Theatre at Westbury, a unique all round theater, that has a revolving stage.

Todd Rundgren, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Christopher Cross, and Denny Laine, formerly of the Moody Blues/Wings, perform the album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in its entirety, and also sang a few of their greatest hits.

In the photo below, from left to right, are Todd Rundgren, Denny Laine in the red jacket, Lou Grammn dressed all in black, and Christopher Cross. If you read the poster then you'll know who I was there to cheer on, as Bo Bice also performed in the show! He performed two fabulous hits from his new self produced album called "See The Light," and seemed to have a great time rocking' out on stage with the rock legends.

And, for the second time in two weeks we heard Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," in which Bo performed an emotion filled guitar solo.

It's hard to believe that 40 years have past since the music of Jethro Tull and The Beatles Sergeant Pepper album was new and innovative, but it certainly is no surprise that their music lives on and is enjoyed by the generations that have come since.

Rock on!