Fleetwood Mac at the SAP Center in San Jose, California November 25, 2014

Fleetwood Mac performed in concert at the SAP Center in San Jose, California during their 2014 tour.  Here is drummer Mick Fleetwood giving his thanks to the crowd at the end of the show.  Mick has been with Mac for the duration of their existence as a band and shows no signs of slowing down.  He is a rock solid, amazingly fluid, drummer.  The band put on a very electric, entertaining show.

Rick Springfield and Pat Benatar Concert Mixing Desks

These are the mixing boards for Rick Springfield and Pat Benatar when they played recently at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California.  They were located back in the bleacher seating section of the facility.  I think Springfield's board is located on the left side of the image and Benatar's is on the right.

Cremona Automatic Instrument on Display in the Mark Twain Bookstore in Virginia City, Nevada!

My family happened to be visiting Virginia City, Nevada as part of a side trip spent at Lake Tahoe, California.  Virginia City is a well preserved ghost town that offers a lot of old, weathered buildings and storefronts.  We stopped in to the Mark Twain Bookstore and came upon a Cremona automatic instrument.  Call it a player piano if you like.  An effigy of Mark Twain is seated next to this automatic instrument which asks for a quarter to be inserted to get the music machine working.  Located inside the piano structure can be seen a marimba, a bass drum, cymbals and a perforated music sheet roll . I checked the Internet and found this description which would fit the device:
"The Marquette Piano Company, also of Chicago, marketed its line of very high grade American instruments under the "Cremona Automatic Musical Instrument" name.  It was an early entry into the coin piano business and produced from about 1905 thru 1920."
Although it was not working during our visit, I am sure this Cremona automatic instrument made a fine racket in its time!

The Who - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA., 2/1/13

The Who were in Northern California, Friday, February 1, 2013, performing the rock opera, Quadrophenia.  Here are Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend leading their who "Big Band".  A very nice concert performance of the Mods related conceptual music work. Windmills were very much in evidence.  Long Live The Who!