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As per Ted's suggestion (https://songcrafters.org/community/general-discussion-b8/3332/msg32664/#msg32664), this topic was split from Post your recent concert reviews here (https://songcrafters.org/forum/general-discussion-b8/post-your-recent-concert-memories-here/msg30272/#msg30272). Feel free to share your memories of concerts from long ago here. For more recent concerts, please use the original topic instead.

Quote from: Blooby on June 20, 2009, 09:33:34 AMSaw John Hammond Jr. years ago from the front row of a an on-campus beer joint called the Orange and Brew on the University of Florida campus.  I think there were less than 20 people in the audience...a shame.

This reminds me of my first year of high school, circa 1971. There were posters in the school halls advertising an upcoming dance featuring a three-man band that nobody, including me, had ever heard of. I had no interest in dancing but I thought it would be great to watch a live band so I went. The turnout was pretty poor. I estimate maybe 20 to 40 people showed up. The band was Rush and they were incredible! I stood right in front of Alex Lifeson for the whole show and was just blown away by his guitar playing. Geddy Lee was great too. The drummer was John Rutsey. This was just after their first album was released. I remember that the school posters (I wish I had swiped one) featured the cover of the album. That was a factor in my decision to go to the dance. I figured if they had an album out, they couldn't be too bad, even though I'd never heard of them. I'm so glad I went.


Update: 2021 Nov 10. I think I have the year wrong above. I could have sworn it was in my first year of high school but I now think it must have been in 1974 (my graduation year) because Rush's first album was released March 1, 1974 and, as I mentioned above, the posters displayed around the school featured the photos from that first album's cover. So it must have been some time between March and June of 1974. Here's a YouTube video I discovered today of Rush playing at a different high school on April 1, 1974 (https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rush/1974/laura-secord-secondary-school-st-catharines-on-canada-4bcf33aa.html). It was recorded for a TV programme called "Canadian Bandstand" and is included on the Bonus disc of the R40 40th Anniversary Boxset DVD/Blu-ray (https://www.rush.com/r40-40th-anniversary-collectors-box-set-available-in-dvd-blu-ray/). It looks very similar to their performance at my high school (as far as I can recall 47 years later). It's interesting that they played "Best I Can" because it wasn't released till a year later on their "Fly By Night" album with Neil Peart on drums. I didn't realise that it was written before Peart joined the band.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drouhbjp_9c

Wow, great story, 64Gs!!!

QuoteThis reminds me of my first year of high school, circa 1971

And hey, congratulations~ You're not as old as my dad lol!!! One year younger!! Sorry, I don't know what's gotten in to me :P

Great story 64G...and with Rush on stage, i don't imagine the dance floor would have been too crowded anyway  :o

Now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing anybody dancing. They were all just standing around in several small groups, talking and clowning around. I don't think many were paying much attention to the band. I was the only one standing at the front of the stage.

I think we need a different topic for "Concert's we saw back in the day"--us older guys can flaunt our brushes with greatness.  For example, I saw The Police on their first US tour in 1980, for free, at the Arizona State Fair.  The opening act: XTC.

Good idea, Ted. As you can see, I've split this topic from the original Post your recent concert reviews here (https://songcrafters.org/forum/general-discussion-b8/post-your-recent-concert-memories-here/msg30272/#msg30272) topic. So, everyone can share their concert memories from long ago here.

Woodstock '94, no doubt. Listened to Cheryl Crow and Kings X on the way there, and when we arrived, the ticket booths were all ripped down so we got in for free. Mud everywhere, not a big Green Day fan, but I saw the bassist get whacked in the head with a big clump of sod - very nice!!

Best band for me: Rollins Band!!! Haskett, Gibbs and Cain were top notch. My friends didn't want to wait for the Chili Peppers to play (With Navarro), so they left me there - ever been alone with 100 thousand people watching the "Jimi Hendrix" band of the concert? (JH was the last to leave in '69).

Then I walked 20 miles to the nearest motel, can't believe the let me check in, washed my clothes in the tub (Bad Idea!), chilled for a day, then took a bus home!

Launched, sounds epic (I mean that in the real sense of the word as opposed to the current vernacular...dude).



I saw him in Jacksonville, FL about 15 years ago.  I seem to recall having sticker shock over a $7.00 beer pitcher at Hooters before the show.

Anyway, the area in front of the stage was set up with 50-100 tables with champagne magnums on each.  I was "roped off" behind them, singing along, drinking, and having fun...too much fun to remain roped off.  I got over the rope, walked through the tables to the front of the stage where 4-5 women were dancing.  This was my first Tom Jones show, so I was pleasantly surprised that the dancers were not the geriatrics I expected.  Long story short, the throng in front of the stage became a mob scene of 100 or so women and myself.  Tom gives me a right-of-passage moment by giving me a thumbs-up, and then a friend of mine arrived with one of the aforementioned magnum bottles of champagne, which was duly passed around.

The peak moment of surrealism came when some of the roadies cleared the panties on the stage, presumably to create the "constant cascade of undergarments" effect (I believe I have dreamed of this at times).  A particularly trampy thong landed in both my hand as well as the hand of an older woman who was next to me.  She gave me a frustrated look and said, "Hey, let me have it."  I did the only thing I could do, which was shove it down the front of my shirt.

By the next day, amid my Allman Brothers, Miles Davis, and Who paraphernalia, was a framed picture of Tom with the ticket from the concert, lovingly embellished with those draped panties over the edge of the frame.

This story concludes with my parents visiting me at college in my loft apartment.  After my mother used the upstairs restroom, she ushered me to a corner where she told me in concerned tones that my father may not see the religious significance in the Tom shrine that I had founded.

I am now 42, and the framed picture/ticket is on the wall behind me as I type, and I imagine the panties are hermetically sealed in some manilla folder deep in a storage box.

Blooby

That's a crazy tale, Bloob!! Fully entertaining - I probably would trade any of my concert going experiences for that one :D

So what the hell was he singing aside from "It's not unusual"??!??

Mark

Quote from: Ted on June 22, 2009, 01:45:40 PMFor example, I saw The Police on their first US world tour in 1980, for free, at the Arizona State Fair.  The opening act: XTC.

Well then, let me elaborate...

I was in high school.  In Art class we used to listen to Classic Rock, or as it was called back then: Rock.  For some reason, they kept playing Roxanne.  I was into Punk, and The Police didn't seem to have much Punk credibility to me, but I decided to go see them at the state fair anyway.

The date was 11 July, 1980. (Thank you, Google. (http://www.scarlet.nl/~gugten/tour-p03.htm)).  I was 18. (Thank you, parents.)

I claim more bragging rights from having seen XTC in 1980, because they became famous for not playing live, and especially for not touring.  The bragging rights are tarnished a bit because I wasn't that into the band at the time.  The one memory I retain was that they ran a film projector right onto the band as they were performing, and the film was heavily--and intentionally--scratched up.  It was very Punk, although the music wasn't.

I don't remember anything specific from performance by the Police at all.  I was pretty nonplussed by the whole thing.  It didn't take too long before I became a fan both bands, and began to regret my blase attitude toward the concert.

Of course, I've never had the chance to see XTC again, but I did see The Police two more times: in 1982 (Ghost in the Machine tour) with The Go-Go's and The Cars if I remember correctly, and in 1983 (Synchronicity tour), with The Thompson Twins and Madness.  By then I was 21 years old, a different kind of snobbery had set in--it all seemed a little too mainstream for me.

When The Police reunion came through Phoenix last year with Elvis Costello (my hero), I ruled out going after not much consideration at all--boring grown up that I am.

Here is my favorite concert memory-----

My best friend and I were in 9th grade. U2's Unforgetable Fire had just been released. They were just starting to get big and I only knew New Years Day. No one had even heard Pride yet. Anway, I never even heard of the band and they were playing a fairly small theater. My friend talked me into going. At the time I was only into classic rock. We got four tickets..two other girls who we had crushes on agreed to come to the show.

Well, a week before the show a girl in our high school died. She was hit by a car. It was horrible. Her name was Robin Rosen. The show started and right from the get-go I knew I was watching a very special band. Half-way through the set they ripped into Pride. In the middle of that song Bono did a kind of talk about Martin Luther King and other activists. I had never seen anything like that before. He also told the crowd about our classmate who had died. At the end of his little speech, he shouted....Sing this song for Robin Rosen..in the name of love. Someone had told Bono that she had tickets for the show, but had died. The crowd went wild. My friends and I cried and we all just hugged each other. Nothing will top that.

 

A few random concert memories:


On the way to see Robert Plant in Jacksonville, FL, I rear-ended an oh-so-shiny Jaguar.


I have driven long, long distances for multiple concerts to find small signs on the doors, stating the shows had been canceled.  It one case, there was a coliseum show with a row of 20 or so glass doors.  There was a single index card stating the news.  Thank goodness for the Internet these days.


Having somebody literally clawing his way up my back during a show by The Firm.  When I asked the guy what he was doing, he gave me a crazed look and said, "I have to see what Jimmy Page's fingers are doing."


Years ago, I saw Return to Forever in New York City.  Perhaps fifty people in my immediate vicinity were air-bassing in honor of Stanley Clarke.


I went to see Steve Vai in a small club in Orlando, FL.  It was crazy hot in the club, we were pressed together like sardines, it smelled, and I had the flu.  At one point, there was a violent push on my back.  I turned around for a "What the f&$%?" glance and saw people looking down toward my feet.  A very, very overweight guy had hit the deck.  He was out cold.  The tight circle of males (It was a Steve Vai show after all) just stared down agog toward his enormous, exposed belly and non-moving frame on the nasty beer-soaked floor.  A guy next to me said, "Here, could you hold my beer for a sec?"  This is what we needed...decisive action.  I took his beer, and he kind of braced himself against me and the guy on the other side of him.  He then gently extended his leg an prodded the guy's belly, poking it lovingly yet thusly a couple times.  I can only assume it was his medically-minded attempt to see if the man was still alive (Once we hauled him outside and got him some water, he was fine.).


And finally (for now), I was at a local Living Colour show with a buddy.  I was in my thirties at the time, a respectable teacher in the community, and I guess I was feeling old...old and bored/boring.  I turned to my friend and said, "I'll see you in about a half an hour.  I then traipsed into the one and only mosh pit I have ever visited.  I stayed there for a few minutes, tussling with youth both figuratively and metaphorically when a youngish boy stared up into my eyes.  His expression was one of stark terror.  It was then that I recognized him, a former student, only recently having exited my class.  That would put him at-what?-fourteen years old, tops.

My role expanded from mere concert-goer to protector.  I knew what had to be done.  I leaned down and yelled over the music, "Don't worry.  We''ll get you out of here."  He said something back.  A plea perhaps.  I leaned in closer to make out what he was so desperately trying to say: "Tfrw munn oduh hae..."

Things were bad...  "What!?" I yelled.

He responded clear as a bell:  "I said,'Throw me on the stage!'"

And with that, another fellow I had bumped elbows with in the pit and myself each grabbed a portion and launched him toward Vernon Reid... or was it Corey Glover?  Security was already converging on our young protagonist, but by then, he was soaring, spread-eagled back into another part of the crowd. 

I never saw him again.

Shortly thereafter, I came back to my "old friend."  I started to open my mouth when he said, "Don't bother.  I was watching you the whole time.  I think most of the people were.

My back healed within mere weeks.

Until next time...

Blooby

The Who- Who's Next tour in the Fall of 1971 at the old Coliseum in Charlotte, NC... which could seat 12-14,000 when set up for a rock concert.  We had seats about 1/3 of the way back from the stage, up on the side.  This was the original Who line-up, including Keith Moon.  Expectations were high...  ;)

They opened of course with Can't Explain and were loud as thunder. Townsend and Mooney were just unbelievable to watch and it was a very positive, good vibes, high-energy concert.  It really seemed like the band wanted to entertain the crowd.

The finale was Won't Get Fooled Again and as the music progressed to the ARP synth part near the end all the lights went out, and just the (recorded) synth kept playing.... building tension.... Then it got to the part when drums start coming come back in, like the beginning of an avalanche and then Daltry belted out that scream YEAHhhhhhh!!!!  At that moment white spotlights came on from behind the band and swept out over the crowd.  The effect was absolutely explosive!  The entire crowd spontaneously cheered. It felt great!   ;D  I have never since seen anything done in a concert or theatrical setting that had soooo much impact.     

After the big deal with Punk had slowed down in the UK, there were a few tours with several acts, one of which I went to. The Dammed was one of the bands playing, and one of the boys was a great fan. He managed to get close to Captain Sensible and demanded an autograph. "Ok, got a pen?" ... he gave him his ever present black magic marker. "Got something to write on?" Having nothing, he suggested he autograph his forehead ...... for the rest of the evening people were confused by this wild eyed punk running up to them, shouting "Look at this, aint it great?" and pointing at the word "Shithead" written on his forehead :D

Quote from: SteveG on July 26, 2009, 06:54:52 PM"Look at this, aint it great?" and pointing at the word "Shithead" written on his forehead :D

that's a great story!

about 6 or 7 yrs ago i got to meet Alice Copper and his entire band after a show in Royal Oak. He was in a hurry to leave (he's originally from the D so I'm sure he had better places to be). but my date and I hung out with the band. The guitar player in that line up was the guy that looks like Chris Kattan -his name escapes me-but all the band mates were calling him Corky-like Corky Romamo-pretty funny-the keyboard player was the guy from Gun's and Roses-who is cousins with a girl we knew and met up with by chance at the show-which is how we got backstage in the first place.

Alice's daughter was "Nurse Betty"-who's plays the evil nurse in his stage show
she was a sweet girl-an art student at the time -working for Dad
she also played the role brittny Spears-who alice beheaded
Alice has the best stage shows i've ever seen-very entertaining

Pink Floyd Momentary Lapse of Reason tour 1987 at the old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.  The somewhat funny story is that the concert for me was exactly that, a momentary lapse of reason and memory (stupid chemicals).  I know I was at the concert but the memories of it don't really make sense...It was fun although i remember it being a little scary too ???.

  I was a little straighter for Division Bell in 1994 and that was a great show.

Quote from: upsetminded on October 06, 2009, 08:11:16 AMPink Floyd Momentary Lapse of Reason tour 1987 at the old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.  The somewhat funny story is that the concert for me was exactly that, a momentary lapse of reason and memory (stupid chemicals).  I know I was at the concert but the memories of it don't really make sense...It was fun although i remember it being a little scary too ???.

  I was a little straighter for Division Bell in 1994 and that was a great show.

Haha I went to Division Bell as well (Rotterdam). I got soooo friggin stoooned before the show that when the show started with sub-bass synth rolling through the stadium I momentarily blacked out.... and woke up completely sober and ready to enjoy the concert!