I’ll tell you the best concert I didn’t see. Bought tickets for Van Halen 1984 tour (yes in ‘84) with David Lee Roth. My friend downed a pint of vodka and spent the entire concert in a bad way. Being a dude, I sat with him hearing muffled guitar solos through the arena walls 😆
Ian Dury and the Blockheads, summer of ‘78 at the Lewisham Odeon! Just a great band! Missed the last train home - a cold night on Waterloo Station just chatting through what a phenomenal night we’d had; Ian at his best! And I saw the Blockheads again just a few months ago - still great!!
Joe Jackson, the night and Day tour, Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh PA, 1983. He and his incredible band with Gary Maby and many others blew the doors off the place. I get chills just thinking about it. That band was so talented and super tight. 🤩
My 1st one - 4th Marleyfest, 1996, San Antonio.
Collected food donations by the gate for hours and was rewarded with a backstage pass after The Wailers played. After helping pack the lighting trusses, Bunny Wailer puts a pile of weed and a paper in my hand. 18 yrs old, standing center stage, rolling
Sometimes opinions and memories change as we mature. The first concert I went to was a small venue. It was sometime in 1974. I was 11 or 12. My older sister wanted to go see a show at the local Jr. College. Mom wanted me to go with her. When we arrived, the lady on stage was spitting into the crown.
... I thought it was very gross and I found a seat as far away from the stage that I could. I don't remember much about the show other than that. It was someone I had never heard of. Many years later (3yrs ago) I scoured the internet trying to figure out when that show happened. Eventually I found..
.. a news article about the show. Well.... the lady did not technically spit on the crowd. Growing up most of the music I new, was folk music and radio play. Anyway, the article recounted, as the show got started a fan threw a flower onto the stage. The lady picked up the flower, bit off the flower
... and spit it (the flower)out into the crowd. Anyway anyway... it was the first time I had heard of her, but not the last. It was my introduction to the genre of Punk. This is a good example if being so close, and far away at the same time and not knowing it. The ladies name is Patti Smith. 🥰
I saw 'Queen' in 1977 when "we will rock you" was new. Oakland Arena, 10th row, middle, on the floor. Absolutely phenomenal.
Also many 'Day on the Green' late 70s at Oakland CA. But the thrill of my life was seeing Paul Simon twice in a week in 2018. Portland Or, and Oakland CA. ❤️❤️
Neutral Milk Hotel at the Roundhouse. So beautiful and emotional it made me cry. I wasn’t alone. Jeff Mangum’s vocals were like nothing I’ve ever heard, a mad, glorious invocation of his soul.
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Collected food donations by the gate for hours and was rewarded with a backstage pass after The Wailers played. After helping pack the lighting trusses, Bunny Wailer puts a pile of weed and a paper in my hand. 18 yrs old, standing center stage, rolling
Also many 'Day on the Green' late 70s at Oakland CA. But the thrill of my life was seeing Paul Simon twice in a week in 2018. Portland Or, and Oakland CA. ❤️❤️
I've seen so many musical groups but it was this one that stands out for me.