I'm not sure if it was the best or the worst, but I was one of the 32000 people who bought a $12, three-day-event ticket to Stompin' 76 in the rural hills of southern Virginia. The only problem was that 150k to 200k people actually attended! The young Bonnie Raitt headlined along with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Earl Scruggs Revue Vassar Clements, John Prine, Lester Flatt & Nashville Grass, David Bromberg, Ry Cooder, and bunch more. We were parked (camped) a mile-and-a-half from the concert area which was considered very close, since people were walking as far as 11 miles one-way of jammed-packed roads which actually backed-up all the way back to and on the Interstate. It was so packed, we couldn't leave if we wanted to. When all of these people showed up, the promoter's security company said "we're out of here" and walked out. After that, the Pagan Motorcycle "Club" provided security. Miraculously, no one died, great live music from morning to late night, and yes we had a wonderful time. Also, someone who will be 32 years-old this August 7th was born at that event. I remember the announcement over the PA. You know, they just don't seem to do events like that anymore! . . . and yes there is a website commemorating that very event. |
Chad,
I was and am a Cinti. concert goer'. Lucky not to have been at the Who show that night, couldnt get tickets. Saw it on the local news and couldn't believe it. Changed shows in Cinti. forever.
A couple of the best and worst - Allman Brothers played Cinti. Gardens (after the Who tragedy but before festival seating was banned). We were at the head of the line and they let the crowd in front of the building but still had the ticket gates closed and screened off. The crowd started to surge toward the ticket gates crushing the people in front (me and my girlfriend). Her brother was behind her and was able to get his arms extended against the gate and literally held the weight of the crowd crush off her. Eerily reminiscent of the Who Coliseum tragedy.
We survived and the Allmans played everything they knew for over 3 hours. We were so emotionally whipped, our group all left before it finished. Somebody said later they went on for over 4 hours.
A couple of weeks later the Dead came to the Gardens. A different kind of crowd, not as rowdy, with everyone sitting around outside playing cards or yakking. The local cops were not going to let what happened at the Who or Allman shows happen again, and started making every one get up and get in a line outside. Confrontation ensued and a couple of folks got hauled off to jail. Bummer.
This was the Deads' first tour in the Cinti. area with the "Wall of Sound" and the first time Id seen it. They were over an hour late getting setup. The band was upset and apologized all night long (although I was fascinated watching them set it up). But, despite the gloomy mood, somewhere in the one of the sets, was the most haunting rendition of Sugeree I have ever heard. I still remember it to this day.
Jim S. |
Was not there but had to be The Who in Cincinnati with fans getting crushed to death rushing the doors for a lousy sound check........carnival seating was no more. Second might be Great White concert with 100 killed. |
Best:
Pink Floyd June 28, 1975 Ivor Wynn Stadium, Hamilton, Ontario. Three complete sets: Wish You Were Here, then a setbreak until dark, Dark Side of the Moon, then a setbreak, Meddle. Small venue stadium with a soft natural grass field that was left uncovered.
Runner up Best:
Almost every Grateful Dead show I attended between 1972 and 1994. No comments about the ill-fated 1995 Summer run.
Worst:
July ?, 1974 or 75. Eric Clapton, Rich Stadium, Buffalo, New York Freddie King opened the show, and did a very nice job of warming up the crowd. After some delay, Clapton gets onstage, clearly very intoxicated. Yelling into the mic "I'm so f***ing drunk". It was becoming obvious that there was no way he was going to pull this off without a riot. Freddie King had the presence of mind to get up there on the stage and take over most (if not all) the guitar work. I lost a lot of respect for Clapton that day. |
best: metallica in 91, at the sam houston coliseum. it had the old wooden chairs that weren't bolted down, and by the end of the show (closing w/ whiplash!) everyone on the floor had thrown the seats into a giant stack, and created a mosh pit around it...couple hundred people moshing. awesome.
worst: was freaking out at dylan on some bad trips; asked a buddy for his pocket knife so i could peel myself (!). dylan cut into GD's "friend of the devil" and it fixed everything, and turned into a helluva good time. |
Best: Seeing Koyaanisqatsi with Philip Glass and his orchestra playing the soundtrack live. It was right after 9/11 so the film was especially profound and you could sense it in the audience who sat through the entire film w/o so much as moving a finger.
Worst & Best: My first and only Dead show. I spent virtually the entire concert alone in the bathroom freaking out from some bad mushrooms. Sublime!! |
Best and worst at the same venue same night . Genesis mid seventies , Outdoors on old CNE grounds . Start with the worst , some absolute A hole picks up an empty glass mickey bottle and hurls it towards the front of the audience and some poor guy gets hit with it rite in the side of the face . He had to be taken away by ambulance and was a mess . Now the best , witnessing the A hole who threw the bottle beaten to a pulp 4 rows behind us by the people he came to the concert with and when they were finished or more apra-po when he was finished they handed him over to the large guys in blue . |
The Clash, New York City, Pier 54 - 1980? My roommate and I with 2 girls we had met that day, one gallon Gallo hearty Chablis that was consumed on the drive in. We get to the show, push our way to the front and as I recall the band opens with "Rock the Casbah". The crowd goes nuts. We are feeling great, immortal, but want to take it up another notch or 3, and a friendly and complete stranger offers me a large white pill. "What is it?" "Qualude". We'll take 4. Sounded like a brilliant idea at the time. Soon the world is tilting and the rest of the night is a complete mystery to me.
A couple hours later I wake up on the bleachers, it's raining and the place is deserted save for a few crew sweeping up. Amazingly, I stumble out into the streets and he's waiting for me with the car, the girls, and a couple of sixes for the ride home.
|
Best: Weather Report at (I think) the Eastman Theatre in Rochester NY July 1981. It was a beautiful night and I thought I died and went to heaven.. a 20 minute version of Tale Spinnin's "Badia". Jaco's "quadraphonic" bass towers doing his Hendrix solo.
Worst: Let's see now.. I'm gonna say Happy the Man opening for a brand new heretofor unknown band called Foreigner in september 1977. The crowd was of a primarily Pop/rock mentality. I was going ape crap watching/listening to an incredible Prog rock performance by Happy the Man; after about 45 minutes they gave up trying to "reach" the audience and Stanley Whittaker (guitarist) steps up to a mike and says "I know, you all came to rock and roll" and that was it - they left. I went out the next day and bought the 1st Happy the Man album. Foreigner was just "o.k". |
Worst: My FIRST concert that I had to sell my sould to my mommy and daddy to get to permission to go to, not to mentions getting the money was difficult: Areosmith; mid way through the first song ST passes out and show is over.
Best: B52s at the Berkley CA Greek Theater, the WHOLE arean was dancing in unison for over an hour...SO MUCH FUN!!
Coolist/Best: Dead Can Dance, Hoolywood Bowl backed up by the LA Phil -- Just last year. |
My BEST experience was probably seeing Stevie Wonder and the Stones at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1972, and Mick and Stevie doing an encore together singing "Uptight" then "Satisfaction."
My WORST experience was probably going to a David Bowie concert in Miami in 2004. After Stereophonics played, a lighting technician fell to his death on stage in front of the crowd during the set-up for Bowie. Very sad moment.(Concert canceled, natch.) |
While I may be in the same decade, I have a best and worst from a lesser known band from a bit different genre - but this musician was like GOD to me!! As a young aspiring trumpet player, I went across the Windsor tunnel in the summer of 1974 to hear a jazz/rock group called "Chase" headlined by master high-register trumpet player Bill Chase. His group had a top chart hit in 1971 called "Get It On" you may have heard.
I had heard Chase in 1972 at Cobo Hall in Detroit when they opened for Ike and Tina Turner. However, this concert in Windsor was at a small college (I believe it was called St Clair College) in the cafeteria so I was geeked about possibly seeing the group in a more intimate setting. My best friend and I show up, are ten feet from the stage and Chase (both the group and the man) played their living asses off - I was simply awestruck at the power, majesty and talent of the group. However, everyone else ignored them and chose to get hammered and socialize instead. It was incredulous to me that all that talent was ignored!! We went back to hear them the NEXT night - same thing. This time we talked to the band and Bill Chase was so gracious and appreciative it was amazing. As an impressionable young trumpet player I felt God had just descended and spoke to me personally. THEN, he invited my friend and I to be his guests that weekend at a dinner club in Kalamazoo called Mr. T-Bones. MY IDOL asked ME to be his guest!! I thought I was dreaming!!
Sorry for the long post but hang on with me a bit longer.
My friend and I make the 100 mile trip to Mr. T-Bones - and just as he said, the maitre de escorts us to the table in front of the stage and tells us dinner is on Mr. Chase and we are his guests. We eat a wonderful meal, hear a FABULOUS concert from the front row and he sits with us during the intermission and talks to us. You could have killed me right then and there and I would have died happy!
WORST STORY?? Tragically, ONE WEEK LATER THAT INCREDIBLE MAN AND MUSICIAN WAS DEAD - he and 4 of his band members died in a plane crash in an Iowa cornfield in August 1974 on the way to a gig.
He was a classy man, a fabulous musician/composer and the world lost a true monster of a trumpet player on that terrible day. I will always fondly remember those precious concerts, his grace and class and his music!!! |
Slept through almost an entire Jimmy Buffet concert in the 70's. Cheeseburger in Paradise is a rude awakening. |
In 1973, or '74, I went to the Casino Arena, in Asbury Park,NJ. Renaissance headlined, Linda Ronstadt opened. My friends and I were sitting on the floor, close to the stage. I had a camera, and started taking pictures during Ronstadt's set. A bouncer came and started pulling the camera from me. As I had the camera attached to a strap, around my neck, my neck started to be pulled too. Ronstadt was about 6 feet away, singing while this happened. She stopped, mid-song, and told the bouncer, "leave him alone. He's just trying to take a few pictures." She then asked me if I was alright, told me to stand and posed so I could get a few shots. She then started the song again, pointed to me and said, "this one's for you." |
My first worst experience was also at a Jethro Tull concert around '78 in Miami. I went primarily to see UK as I've seen JT several times before. Between acts the crowd acted like unruly children throwing frisbees, balls and toilet paper at each other. A fellow appeared onstage and warned the worthless that Ian Anderson was hit by a flying object at the last venue and would stop the night's performance if such things occurred again. As soon as JT manned the stage, a barrage of junk hit the stage. It's a wonder they didn't pack up and leave.
Two years ago, I saw the Moody Blues at a local venue and seated behind me was a group of aged land apes singing along to Justin Hayward's beautiful voice. Well, this ain't no party; I paid to hear the Moodies not some white trash drunks. In the middle of a serene flute solo, the whole house was hushed, as quiet a rock concert ever got. A guttural "YEAH" was shouted from the middle of the mezzanine, ruining the peaceful setting.
Audients and their assholian ways can make or break a concert for me. Bad seats or sound can be tolerated. And I thank Christ for my stereo. |
A couple of bestests, too.
Harry Chapin, 1979-1980, the Granada Theater in Chicago. He played for a full 2 hours, put on a great show and then comes out to the lobby, bs'ing and signing autographs for hours. Great guy.
Uriah Heep, '75 or '76. I'm with a good bud and his friend, who did the driving, is with this smoking hot chick on their first date. As we are driving away after the show, she fakes a yawn and hands me a little note with her phone number...niiiice! |
I have a couple, but will use this one. I believe it was back in the 70's. Went to a show at Cornell University. Deep Purple was the headliner. There were two other band, one of which was ZZ Top. They were the opening act. That tells you how long ago this was. While ZZ Top was playing, it started to rain. The band finished their song and said that they were going to stop playing till the rain stopped. Something about not wanting to get electrocuted. After about five minutes of silence, the crowd starts getting restless and for whatever reason, rushes the stage. They absolutely trash the stage, pushing pianos, speakers and equipment off the stage, wrecking everything. My girlfriend and I decide that it is probably time to go and make a quick exit. Along the way, we passed a couple of cars that had been set on fire and some very angry fans. Felt lucky to get out of there in one piece. Never did get to see Deep Purple. Probably was a blessing for my hearing though, they liked to play loud. |
Already posted a worst. Here's a best. Was at a tavern with some friends who had tickets to see Head East who were playing that evening. I didn't have a ticket, and was loudly complaining the fact. There were a bunch of guys on the other side of the bar who heard my rants, and motioned me over. They asked if I really wanted to see them that badly. I assured them I did. Next thing you know, I'm in their limo with them, and we're going to the venue. Yes, the guys were Head East, and I didn't realize it in the dark of the tavern. They took me to thier trailer where we had a couple Heineken, then were let in the side entrance to start the show. The coolest part was when my friends saw me come on stage with the band. They couldn't beleive it. |
About twenty years at a Tull concert, early on in the concert, somebody threw a shoe on the stage as the band was playing. Ian Anderson picked it up without missing a note in his song and held it up. He was shaking it at the crowd like an irate old man shaking his fist at a group of boys who had just thrown a baseball through his window and were running away. It was hilarious. The crowd got the message and were well behaved after that. |
In the early '70's I was attending a Grateful Dead concert with my nose all taped up from one side of my head to the other, from top to bottom. I had it cauterized because there were way too many veins, which bled when the air got drier. There was about 5 feet of gauze stuffed up there after they did a silver nitrate burn. Anyways, the crowd was shoving towards the front of the stage, and it was getting real tight. I was hot, and felt like I was going to pass out, so I managed to squeeze out of the pack, and go to a concession stand to get a cold drink. As I arrived at the stand, I passed out right on the counter. Wasn't out for long, but as I regained consciousness, I looked up, and asked for a coke, like nothing happened. Everyone was staring at me. I looked like a bad accident, and I think it freaked out a few people. |
2 Grateful Dead "worst moments:
ca. 1971; young teen vigorously pleasuring himself right next to us in Hartford.
ca. 1972; open seating at Springfield MA Civic Center; large crowd waiting to be admitted, some moron opens 1 of a group of about 15 double glass doors. You can guess the rest...a miracle no one was badly hurt.
Gawdbless- hard to see what she didn't like about a "sensitive" guy like you ;~) |
Took a real nice piece of hot 'totty' biker chick to an Iron Maiden gig way back, the gig was awesome (as maiden always are), but she dumped me the next day. Perhaps not as keen on 'maiden' as I was/am?. Well thats what I kept on telling myself.lol |
Another Starship concert;
Probably around 1976, Heart opened up for Leonard Skynard, who opened up for Starship. Santa Barbera college outdoor daytime concert at the football stadium. Some clown jumps up on stage with Grace and tries to play the flute with the band. Roadie grabs him in a bear hug and drags him off the stage, both smiling. I think song was also "Play on Love". Grace points to the guy in trouble and sings, "You better think fast".
Also, Marty Balin was super late arriving & didn't get there till the 3rd song or so. It was going good till he did his twenty minute "If only you belive" song. Good tune for a beer & pee run.
-John |
Jefferson Starship, 1976, Chicago area (can't remember the exact venue). Towards the end of Play On Love, some guy is giving Grace Slick a hard time about something, I don't know what.
At any rate, as she's singing, she gives him the one finger salute...right there in front of everyone...without missing a lyric. Great stuff. |
