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Mon 12 Jul, 2021 04:42 pm
Mine was Neil Diamond, back in... 1968, in Vancouver. A young gentleman from school, Larry Y., invited me. We took a taxi there and a bus back because I wouldn't hold his hand during the concert.
Second one: Neil Young, when I was in my teens. My 'date' (who was my friend's brother) gave me some pot and I slept through the whole thing. Didn't care for his music much, anyway, and still don't.
Best one: Queen: 1980 (-ish) - Vancouver. Best. Concert. Ever. That guy was born a performer.
Worst one: Arrogant Burton Cummings, again Vancouver, forget which year because the whole thing was forgettable. On his own at this time. He opened by saying, "Love you Seattle!!" and it went downhill from there. Boos, hissing... no tomatoes, though.
Yours?
In terms of big acts:
David Bowie - Sydney Showgrounds, 1978. Still have the ticket.
Second one - Probably The Police at the Hordern Pavillion (1980)
I did see INXS at the Pickled Parrot Bar in Gladesville in 1980, but back then they were not big
Best one - Morphine at the ANU Bar (1993)
Worst - tough call - The Divinyls were terrible both times I saw them in Sydney Pubs in the 1980s (Family Hotel and the Cabramatta Stardust) - but only because the FoH mix was awful. Iggy Pop at the ANU bar in 1993 was singularly unimpressive.
The one that got away:
Turned up to see Nirvana at the ANU Bar in 1992. It was already full. Left. That gig is now legendary in Canberra because there was a riot, too many people inside condensation dripping off the ceiling and a glass wall was pushed out and the cops turned up.
Nirvana had booked the gig before they got huge, and honoured the contract - much like the Beatles tour downunder in 1964.
Whitesnake/Anthrax, Castle Farms, July 28, 1987
Def Leppard/Tesla, Battle Creek, November 3, 1987
Dio/Megadeth/Savatage, Saginaw, February 12, 1988
Megadeth/Warlock/Sanctuary, Kalamazoo, April 30, 1988
Van Halen/Scorpions/Metallica, Pontiac Silverdome, June 17, 1988
Def Leppard/Europe, Castle Farms, August 3, 1988
Metallica/Queensrÿche, Cobo Arena (downtown Detroit), November 25, 1988
Metallica/Queensrÿche, Battle Creek, April 14, 1989
Cinderella/Winger, Grand Rapids, May 1989 (couldn't pin down the date)
Metallica/The Cult, Val Du Lakes, July 1, 1989
Ozzy Osbourne, Castle Farms, July 7, 1989
Stevie Ray Vaughn, Val Du Lakes, August 18, 1989
Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Joe Louis Arena (downtown Detroit), December 1, 1989
Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Saginaw, March 16, 1990
Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Augusta Georgia (on my way to Florida for spring break), March 25, 1990
KISS/Slaughter, Muskegon, June 13, 1990
Whitesnake/Faster Pussycat, Val Du Lakes, June 23, 1990
Aerosmith/Black Crowes, Castle Farms, July 6, 1990
Queensrÿche (full performance of Operation Mindcrime rock opera)/Suicidal Tendencies, Joe Louis Arena (downtown Detroit), June 1, 1991
Megadeth/Anthrax/Slayer (Clash of the Titans Tour), Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), June 22, 1991
AC/DC - L.A. Guns, Palace (Detroit suburbs), July 2, 1991
Alice Cooper/Judas Priest/Metal Church/Motörhead, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), August 3, 1991
Metallica/Metal Church, Palace (Detroit suburbs), November 2, 1991
Metallica/Metal Church, Palace (Detroit suburbs), November 3, 1991
Ozzy Osbourne, Fox Theater (downtown Detroit), February 13, 1992
Van Halen, Palace (Detroit suburbs), February 21, 1992
Iron Maiden/Corrosion of Conformity/Testament, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), June 20, 1992
Metallica/Metal Church, Castle Farms, June 27, 1992
Ozzy Osbourne, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), July 9, 1992
Guns n Roses/Metallica, Pontiac Silverdome, July 21, 1992
Black Sabbath (Dio)/Danzig, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), August 2, 1992
Guns n Roses, Palace (Detroit suburbs), April 13, 1993
ZZ Top/George Thorogood, Palace (Detroit suburbs), June 11, 1994
Metallica/Danzig/Suicidal Tendencies, Ionia County Fairgrounds, June 24, 1994
All good. No best. No worst.
Pine Knob is the best venue in Michigan for concerts. Nothing else in Michigan comes close. I guess these days they are called DTE Theater or something.
Castle Farms had the coolest history of all the venues in Michigan.
@hingehead,
Whoa! Still have the ticket! And David Bowie - I'm green with envy.
@oralloy,
LOL, were you a roadie? That's a LOT of concerts.
@Mame,
I was into heavy metal. I wish I'd gone to even more.
Not a roadie. I'd be following the same tour in that case.
I'm not sure why I stopped going to concerts. I've thought about going to concerts at Pine Knob again. I haven't done so though. Yet.
1958 - Conway Twitty. He was billed as rockabilly. His current record was C'est Ci Bon or Is a Bluebird Blue. Corpus Christi. Only 400 showed up. Down the road in Alice Texas Jerry Lee Lewis appeared at the same time. He had 8,000.
@edgarblythe,
I also saw Conway Twitty. It was in Miami around 1960 at a concert called Shine of Stars. Shine was a spray on shoe polish, and a Shine label plus one dollar got you admission. There wasn't a labeled can of shine in town.
Oh, I swear the man sneered right at me.
@roger,
What man? Who sneered at you? I'll come right over there and thump him. And did Shine work? Missed you the last few days, rog.
@roger,
Yeah. Conway complained to the audience they ought to be dancing instead of watching him.
@edgarblythe,
That's odd because when musicians here (and they are serious musicians) play, they don't want you dancing - they want you listening. My husband (who is an acoustic blues expert) frowns on me when I'm chatting with the girls. He said, if it's in the afternoon, you can chat; if you pay to get in, you listen.
But were I a musician, I'd love to see how my music swayed people. The more dancing, the better.
But, I won't dance alone, like some.
@Mame,
Conway did his hits first half of the show then went hardcore country after that. I didn't know any of those songs. I don't recall the audience being that enthusiastic.
@Mame,
Mame wrote:
What man? Who sneered at you? I'll come right over there and thump him. And did Shine work? Missed you the last few days, rog.
Twitty, and boy did that man know how to sneer. I don't know if Shine worked or not. I don't think anyone ever bought a can. All anybody wanted was the labels. As promotions go, I guess it flopped.
Hawkwind 1979 Newcastle City Hall.
@hingehead,
I saw Bowie in Milton Keynes.
My mates, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, were supporting him, but they didn’t get any special treatment, they didn’t even get to meet him.
first: The Who @ MSG, 1979
second: The Who @ Shea, 1982
will think on best and worst...
The Jackson Five
(Opening act: Gladys Knight and the Pips)
Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium
Fayetteville, NC
1974
Peter Paul and Mary concert at the Garden State Parkway in the late 60s or early 70s.
At that age Mary was hot hot at least to me, along with the great folk music the group product.