IT'S ALIVE!

A historical RANT About Some of My Concert Experiences

The Clash and Bo Diddley, 1979 tour

My friend Steve posted the following “concert” questions on his Facebook feed a few days ago. His choices were quite eclectic and dynamic. I shared mine; it's a tad more mainstream. It wasn’t hard for me to answer them. They were off the top of my head and indubitably stamped into my psyche. I’ve expanded my answers below:

1. First Concert - The 5th Dimension at Blossom Music Center in Richfield, Ohio

On September 2nd, 1970, my parents took my younger brother David and me with another family and their two daughters. (I had a schoolboy crush on the eldest daughter, Lucia P.!) Blossom is an idyllic indoor/outdoor amphitheater in Northeast Ohio, between Akron and Cleveland. The rolling grass hills are perfect for picnicking and listening to pop music. It has also been the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra. (Tanglewood in Lennox, MA, is a similar venue.) Since the late ‘60s, this storied venue has presented amazing concerts. On many summer nights during high school and college, my friends and I spent our hard-earned dollars watching concerts there.

2. Last Concert - Joe Jackson at The Egg in Albany, NY on May 31st, 2024

I hadn’t seen Joe in years. My friend gave me two free tickets, my wife was available, and it was an easy decision. The Egg in Albany is quite odd from the exterior and looks like an egg tilted on its side. The interior boasts two sonically superb performance halls. Joe played in the larger Hart Theatre, which holds 982 people, with no bad seats. In his first set, he played solo and played many of his most popular tunes. The second set featured a full band and was billed as Joe Jackson Presents The Music of Max Champion. The fictional character Champion was a Music Hall crooner and composer in the UK circa 1900s. Joe released an album of humorous, cheeky music in 2023. I saw singer-songwriter Amos Lee at the same venue the week before.

3. Worst Concert - Leon Russell at The Bottom Line in NYC

This uneventful gig took place about a year before this storied venue would close in 2004. (I played there there once, opening for Elliot Murphy.) There’s dialing it in, and then there’s not dialing it in. My friend Gary and I left after about an hour. I'm not sure if Leon was drunk, sick, or sick of playing gigs, but he played his piano facing the side wall of the stage and never engaged the audience. He was listless and unengaged. One of his daughters played percussion and sang most of the songs. It was not the Leon me or the audience were hoping for. He remains a longtime musical hero, and I was bummed to have seen him in this setting.

4. Loudest Concert - The Who at Richfield Coliseum, Ohio, on December 9, 1979

Sadly, three days earlier, eleven concertgoers were crushed to death by a rowdy crowd waiting for the band to play in Cincinnati. It was also the first tour without their juggernaut drummer Keith Moon, who had accidentally OD’ed from the prescription drug Heminevrin (to combat alcoholism) in September 1978. Kenny Jones, former skin basher for the Faces, was his replacement. This was a fantastic show, but it was not Live at Leeds! I attended the show with a fraternity brother and roommate. It was so loud that we ran to the bathroom to grab toilet paper to stuff our ears before permanent damage set in. My ears were still ringing for the next few days.

5. Best Concert - The Clash at The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio, on February 13, 1979

Many New Yorkers will mention their legendary Bond shows in Times Square in 1980. But for me, it was a brutally cold, snowy night in February 1979 when magic happened. It was loud, audacious, fiercely intense, and epic. It was punk rock fury. Many Clash fans said it was one of their best live shows ever. The crowd was so insane that it pogoed and kept pushing the crowd dangerously forward. Kids were fainting; security guards were getting way too physical with kids jumping on stage to prevent further bodily harm. I was nearly crushed but slipped up on the lip of the stage next to the PA, right at the feet of bassist Paul Simonon for most of the gig. At the beginning of this recording, you’ll hear Joe Strummer plead with the audience, “You’re crushing these guys.” before launching into “Guns on the Roof.” The legendary Bo Diddley opened for them. Check out the entire concert here.

Honorary mention goes to Bowie at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan on October 20th, 2002. It was called the now famous New York City Marathon Tour—five different nights in five different venues in each of New York's five boroughs. It was a remarkable tribute to New York and his fans. I was lucky to grab two standing-room-only tickets on the day of the show. My wife and I stood beside his wife, Iman, and her mother throughout the show. It was magical—a charismatic master serving up his most beloved songs with an incredible band providing the perfect musicianship.

6. Seen the Most - Derek Trucks w/Allman Bros, The Derek Trucks Band, and Tedeschi Trucks Band at numerous venues in and around NYC

I’ve seen Derek grow as an artist and become a true master of his instrument (Gibson SG) since he was in his late teens and playing with the Allman Brothers Band. My friends and I would catch them whenever they played at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Whenever he played with his band, we would see him. And when he finally left ABB and joined forces with his wife, Susan Tedeschi, it was easy to continue my fan worship. I was lucky enough to interview him for my website, CultureCatch.com. And this past year, Tedeschi Trucks played a private benefit for the Elliot Waxman Cancer Research Fund at Cipriani’s in New York. My wife and I, and about 200 attendees, were treated to an extraordinary and intimate concert. IMHO, they are the best touring band on the planet today!

7. Most surprising - Green Day at Irving Plaza in NYC, on September 15, 2012

This was the gig before Billy Joe Armstrong imploded in Las Vegas for I Heart Radio Music Festival a week later, checked himself into rehab, and got straight. But on this night, Billy Joe and the band left it all out on the stage. A blistering 39-song setlist! Nearly 2.5 hours of pop-punk fury. At one point, Billy Joe flung himself from the top of the speakers into the outstretched arms of his adoring fans some 15 feet below him. I took my son, Luca; it was his 2nd live rock show. He had his first Pop Warner football game the next day. I suspect he remembers this gig more than the game. I know I do.

8. Happy I Got To See - Led Zeppelin, Alberta Hunter, Return To Forever, Curtis Mayfield, The Pogues, and Bob Dylan (to name a few)

Led Zeppelin on January 24, 1975, at the Richfield Coliseum was quite spectacular, their tenth tour of America, and 21,000 fans would probably agree. I was incredibly excited because I wanted to share the experience with a young lady who worked at the local Acme grocery store. I had tried to ask her out for months but was terrified. She was a senior at Firestone High School, the public school; I was a senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary, the local catholic high school. Sadly, this world-famous rock ‘n’ roll band did not excite her like I had anticipated. It was loud, almost deafening, and the first hour was a tad sloppy. Jimmy Page appeared drunk, swinging from a Jack Daniels bottle, his Les Paul guitar slung to his knees. But the band finally reached critical lift-off after that first hour. Damn glad I got to witness the “greatest” band on the planet at that point in time. (I often wonder what happened to Debbie A.) Here’s some rare footage of that gig I found on YouTube:

Alberta Hunter at the Cookery on University Place in NYC in 1982. I saw her about three times at her weekly residency at this brunch joint. At 87 years old, this jazz and blues vocalist was revelatory. She quit the biz to become a nurse in 1955 and didn’t return to singing until 1977. You can read more about her here.

Return To Forever played the sonically perfect E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall on the campus of the University of Akron in 1977. In the mid-'70s, they were my favorite progressive jazz-rock ensemble—keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White, and guitarist Al Di Meola. Their album Romantic Warrior was on repeat play in my college dorm room, too. On this gig, these four virtuosos were in sync with the universe.

Curtis Mayfield at Summer Stage in Central Park, on July 7, 1990. A week before, he was tragically paralyzed at a concert in Brooklyn. This was an amazing performance by the legendary master of funk, soul, gospel, and R&B. I was also stunned by his guitar chops. Here’s the setlist from that gig.

The Pogues at Roseland Ballroom in New York City on March 17, 2007. Though Shane was stuck in a wheelchair due to a recent knee injury, it did not diminish the band’s ferocious live set, especially given that it was St. Patrick’s Day, and plenty of Guinness was consumed by the band and the sweaty, crazy crowd. Here’s a review of the show.

Bob Dylan at Newport Folk Festival, 3rd of August, 2002. It was a sweltering summer day; my daughter was five months old. My wife and I brought both kids with us. What would Bob do on his very first return to the stage where he was once booed in 1965? I walked from the back area of the festival grounds to the front of the stage and stood for the entire set. He and his band (my favorite lineup) crushed it. Two weeks after this legendary return performance, my friend Sal gave me a copy of the bootleg CD of the concert. I cherish it to this day.

9. Wish I Could Have Seen - John Coltrane

Not just ‘Trane (check out the clip below), but Thelonius Monk, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, and Buddy Holly. I turned down a ticket to see Elvis at the Richfield Coliseum. It turned out to be his final tour. Ditto for Pink Floyd’s legendary Blossom Music Center concert in June 1973. And my parents wouldn’t let my cousin take me to see The Rolling Stones in 1972. They played the Akron Rubber Bowl next to the Goodyear blimp hangar, where the University of Akron and local high school football games were played. Stevie Wonder opened for them.

10. Next Concert - The Pretenders at Tanglewood, Lennox, MA, July 16, 2024

Chrissie Hynde is from my hometown of Akron, Ohio. She’s one superb and fantastic artist. I’ve seen her live a few times; the last time was in New York at Roseland in 2009. Though I’ve never met her, I know a few of her close friends, and my college roommate claimed to have had a romantic fling with her back in Akron when he was a lifeguard. I know her brother Terry, who still plays sax with one of my favorite bands on the planet, 15-60-75, aka The Numbers Band; they are still together; read about them here on my SubStack page.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of some of my favorite songs performed by the artists mentioned above:

I have seen thousands of concerts. Some I remember, some I don’t. Stendhal syndrome? Perhaps. What says you?