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Post by Unwatchable on Jan 16, 2023 23:30:17 GMT
I was just posting about seeing Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood in concert. It got me thinking that people here might have some interesting concert memories. What are some of the memorable concerts you've been to? Best, worst, anything.
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Post by Unwatchable on Jan 16, 2023 23:40:08 GMT
I saw Paul Simon live about 7-8 years ago. Another fantastic concert by a veteran performer. He was in great voice. I believe he was touring to support his latest album. He had an impressive large back up band, if that's the right term. The audience came alive for all the familiar hits but as must be common for performers of his era, the audience was attentive but less enthusiastic for his more recent songs.
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Post by LZ4177 on Jan 17, 2023 2:30:14 GMT
The first concert of the 77 tour, and their first show in a long time. They were jittery and a little drunk. JP and Bonzo were swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels all night. Not that we cared. We were just happy to be there. We didn't know it then but it turned out to be their final show in Dallas. |
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 17, 2023 2:30:51 GMT
My first concert was the Grateful Dead at Pauley Pavilion, which is located in L.A. on the campus of U.C.L.A. My older brother and his friends took me. We had good seats and I'm watching and this really big guy comes and stands about 20 feet in front of me. I tell my brother this and he says that I should go and ask the guy to move out of the way. I get up and tap the guy and I ask him to move and he is very nice about it. I get back to my seat and all the guys are laughing at me. My brother says "didn't you know that was Bill Walton, you moron!". I didn't. Bill Walton was going to U.C.L.A at the time and was (and still is), a deadhead. A few years ago Walton was doing a college basketball broadcast and he mentions this concert (it was the only one the Dead did at Pauley).
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 17, 2023 17:11:58 GMT
Cripes. Most of the concerts I went to were memorable. Like......
Jimi Hendrix Experience at Detroit's Masonic Temple auditorium in Feb. '68.(My first)
Emerson Lake and Palmer at Cobo arena in late '71( and my introduction to John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, who opened for ELP.)
Mahavishnu Orchestra at Ford auditorium in early '72, with The Eagles opening for them.
And Mahavishnu again at Ford later that year opened by Jo Jo Gunne.
Zappa at Cobo, '73.
Memorable?
I guess one might be Vladimir Ashkenazy playing Beethoven's 5th piano Concerto with Antal Dorati conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. '77
Another might be John McLaughlin performing his Mediterranean Concerto with the DSO. '88
DSO performing Beethoven's 9th directed by NEEME JARVI '95.
Worst?
Steppenwolf. Hands down the worst band I heard live in my life. Cobo in '69.
Sepiatone
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 17, 2023 17:15:25 GMT
Cripes. Most of the concerts I went to were memorable. Like...... Jimi Hendrix Experience at Detroit's Masonic Temple auditorium in Feb. '68.(My first) Emerson Lake and Palmer at Cobo arena in late '71( and my introduction to John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, who opened for ELP.) Mahavishnu Orchestra at Ford auditorium in early '72, with The Eagles opening for them. And Mahavishnu again at Ford later that year opened by Jo Jo Gunne. Zappa at Cobo, '73. Memorable? I guess one might be Vladimir Ashkenazy playing Beethoven's 5th piano Concerto with Antal Dorati conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. '77 Another might be John McLaughlin performing his Mediterranean Concerto with the DSO. '88 DSO performing Beethoven's 9th directed by NEEME JARVI '95. Worst? Steppenwolf. Hands down the worst band I heard live in my life. Cobo in '69. Sepiatone Mahavinshnu and ELP; that makes sense. Mahavishnu and The Eagles? Not so much. I would have showed up late! As for Steppenwolf; they weren't a tight band. I was in a cover band and we did Born-to-be-wild live better than they could do. |
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 17, 2023 17:31:45 GMT
Any garage band could. Musically they were OK somewhat, but Kay couldn't really carry a tune in a dump truck.
Mahavishnu with The Eagles was alright. The Eagles were just starting to make headway. The concert WAS (as stated) in early '72, Their single TAKE IT EASY was released ahead of their first album's release and was big on both AM and FM stations since May of that year. Also it was a time when mixing genres at concerts was common. Like that Zappa concert I mentioned that was in '73. Mahavishnu opened for that one.
Sepiatone
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 17, 2023 18:59:43 GMT
Any garage band could. Musically they were OK somewhat, but Kay couldn't really carry a tune in a dump truck. Mahavishnu with The Eagles was alright. The Eagles were just starting to make headway. The concert WAS (as stated) in early '72, Their single TAKE IT EASY was released ahead of their first album's release and was big on both AM and FM stations since May of that year. Also it was a time when mixing genres at concerts was common. Like that Zappa concert I mentioned that was in '73. Mahavishnu opened for that one. Sepiatone Zappa and Mahavishnu works for me since Zappa isn't standard rock and roll (Can one really classify Zappa?). But The Eagles are more of a country rock type of band, along the lines of C,S,N & Y. I just don't see that gelling with Mahavishnu. I don't really dislike The Eagles; I.e. they wrote some nice songs, could sing and had nice harmonies, and Joe Walsh was a first rate guitarist (I saw him solo and that was good, but if I recall he wasn't in The Eagles when it started, so I assume he wasn't at the concert you mentioned). I just find The Eagles to be kind of bland. |
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Post by Hold the Mayo on Jan 17, 2023 22:19:52 GMT
I saw Pink Floyd a few months after they released TDSOTM. It was kind of a simple, low-budget affair. Perhaps they didn't realize what a
big hit the album would be or maybe not. IIRC, it was a pretty good concert. The only drawback was a tacky "flying saucer" that went down
some kind of setup to the stage. But that was a minor matter.
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Post by Unwatchable on Jan 17, 2023 22:23:17 GMT
The Grateful Dead and Hendrix are two great first concerts.
Years ago, I worked with a guy whose first concert was The Beatles 1964 US tour. I believe he saw them in Kansas City when he was about 13 or 14. He said he almost didn't go, anticipating a stadium full of screaming girls. He wanted to hear the music.
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Post by LZ4177 on Jan 17, 2023 22:43:16 GMT
The Grateful Dead and Hendrix are two great first concerts. Years ago, I worked with a guy whose first concert was The Beatles 1964 US tour. I believe he saw them in Kansas City when he was about 13 or 14. He said he almost didn't go, anticipating a stadium full of screaming girls. He wanted to hear the music. |
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 18, 2023 1:10:38 GMT
I saw Pink Floyd a few months after they released TDSOTM. It was kind of a simple, low-budget affair. Perhaps they didn't realize what a
big hit the album would be or maybe not. IIRC, it was a pretty good concert. The only drawback was a tacky "flying saucer" that went down
some kind of setup to the stage. But that was a minor matter. I also have a very memorable Pink Floyd concert experience. The concert was in Los Angeles and the city had Police Chief Ed Davis. Davis announced a crackdown on smoking pot at concerts. The concert was for the Pink Floyd album The Wall. (so it was sometime in 1979). The concert was tense since there were a lot of cops but of course there were a lot more of us. Groups of people started to challenge the cops. Was this going to be a major riot that would force the cops to use their weapons? People would stand up so that the cops couldn't see them lighting their joints. People took turns doing this so that those that wanted to smoke (which was the majority) could do so without being seen by the cops. Thus a riot was avoid. Oh, those were the days. |
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Post by LZ4177 on Jan 18, 2023 1:38:30 GMT
I saw Pink Floyd a few months after they released TDSOTM. It was kind of a simple, low-budget affair. Perhaps they didn't realize what a
big hit the album would be or maybe not. IIRC, it was a pretty good concert. The only drawback was a tacky "flying saucer" that went down
some kind of setup to the stage. But that was a minor matter. I also have a very memorable Pink Floyd concert experience. The concert was in Los Angeles and the city had Police Chief Ed Davis. Davis announced a crackdown on smoking pot at concerts. The concert was for the Pink Floyd album The Wall. Oh, those were the days. |
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Post by Hold the Mayo on Jan 18, 2023 3:44:52 GMT
I also have a very memorable Pink Floyd concert experience. The concert was in Los Angeles and the city had Police Chief Ed Davis. Davis announced a crackdown on smoking pot at concerts. The concert was for the Pink Floyd album The Wall. (so it was sometime in 1979). The concert was tense since there were a lot of cops but of course there were a lot more of us. Groups of people started to challenge the cops. Was this going to be a major riot that would force the cops to use their weapons? People would stand up so that the cops couldn't see them lighting their joints. People took turns doing this so that those that wanted to smoke (which was the majority) could do so without being seen by the cops. Thus a riot was avoid. Oh, those were the days.
My friend and I happened to be in New York on the day of the Concert for Bangla Desh. We noticed there were people heading for the lobby of the Felt Forum,
which was a smaller venue in MSG. These people were yelling at the cops, one of those free concert for the people things. Some folks were starting to throw stuff
at the cops and running up near the cops and retreating again. We stayed for a while but figured this might end badly, so we started to head back to Jersey.  |
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Post by sepiatone on Jan 18, 2023 17:44:51 GMT
Zappa and Mahavishnu works for me since Zappa isn't standard rock and roll (Can one really classify Zappa?). But The Eagles are more of a country rock type of band, along the lines of C,S,N & Y. I just don't see that gelling with Mahavishnu. I don't really dislike The Eagles; I.e. they wrote some nice songs, could sing and had nice harmonies, and Joe Walsh was a first rate guitarist (I saw him solo and that was good, but if I recall he wasn't in The Eagles when it started, so I assume he wasn't at the concert you mentioned). I just find The Eagles to be kind of bland. Nope. Walsh wasn't in the band yet. He had just broke from The James Gang a few months earlier. And really, the crowd who went to see The Mahavishnu Orchestra that night showed rousing appreciation for The Eagles. Like I stated, mixed genre concerts were quite normal in those days. Nobody got snobbish about it. And for what they did musically, I thought The Eagles were pretty good. However, to me they seemed to be fading over the years. Unlike many Eagles fans, I really, really didn't(and still don't) like their "signature" tune HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Choosing instead to call it, "Hotel Catatonia".  The only time I saw Joe Walsh live was a few of The James Gang's appearances at Detroit's GRANDE BALLROOM in the late '60's. They were a five man group until June of '68 when hired to open for Cream at the Grande and only three of them could show up. They decided to become a trio after that. I never saw The James Gang or Walsh after the Gang made their first LP released in March of '69. And I suppose a memorable concert for me too, would be when I was there for one of the nights BOB SEGER recorded the tracks for his LIVE BULLET album.  Sepiatone |
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