Is anyone here still into live concerts these days?

@pvnasby -- That's awesome!  I was at that Ozric Tentacles show.  They were touring their "Arboresence" album at that show.  I've listened to them for years, a fantastic Prog/Psychedelic/Space Rock band.  That show was October 19th, 1994.  Leftover Salmon was October 20th.

Were you in town filming "Marriage, Pride & Madness" by chance?  I know that movie was in town at that time.  My good buddy was an employee of the NC School of the Arts in their Film School Department at that time.  He was in charge of purchasing all the equipment for the studios and screening rooms they were building as they expanded.  Had some GOOD times going in with him when the school was closed and playing around with the audio gear in the movie theaters!  There may or may not have been some "Alice In Wonderland" activities while Led Zep's "Song Remains The Same" blared on the big screen! 

@thecarpathian -- It was awful.  Just dreadful.  Drinking a beer with him after the show was pure misery, I tell ya.  Misery!  😆 

@thecarpathian -- I saw Warren Zevon twice (1983 and 1996), and those shows rank up there in my Top 20% of live concerts.  The 1996 show was my favorite.  In a small club in Winston-Salem, NC, called Ziggy's with a capacity of around 500 for that show.  It was a solo, acoustic show by Zevon, so he reworked his songs to fit just one person playing them -- some were acoustic guitar, some electric guitar, some a Hammond Organ and Synths.  Unique and killer.

I’m 62, and I’ve been attending shows since I was 10 years old (had a sibling 11 years older than me). Throughout the 1970’s and 1990’s, most shows were in venues under 10,000 seats, with an occasional large stadium show. Starting in the 2000’s, I started throwing in a few Multi-Day Festival shows where crowds of 80,000 fans a day were common. I quickly learned those events were not for me -- from the ticket prices to hotel costs to concessions cost, they just became ridiculously expensive.

Also in that early 2000’s time frame, I began attending shows at independent clubs -- venues that held a maximum of 500 to 1,000 fans, and quickly fell in love with these shows. The sound was much better, the prices were very low, you had the ability to see a vast variety of niche genre bands, and get to see them up close and personal. I began befriending the club managers and sticking around after shows in the loading area or in the clubs (with permission from the management), and I got to meet and party with numerous now famous musicians who enjoyed having a dinner or drinks bought for them. My primary music is Progressive Rock and Prog Metal, and I have been fortunate to hang out with the members of Haken, Porcupine Tree, Sons of Apollo, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, The Pineapple Thief, Leprous, Riverside, along with Mott The Hoople, Opeth, King Buffalo, Warren Zevon, Killing Joke, Dixie Dregs, Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society, Pantera, GodspeedYou! Black Emperor...just to name a few.

Give me the under 1,000 seat venues all day long. I’ll keep rocking out live as long as I can!

@moonwatcher -- When I saw the venues you named, I realized we must live near each other. I’m in Winston-Salem. I am at The RamKat, Cat’s Cradle, Motorco, Filmore, Neighborhood Theater, Hanger 1819, The Underground, Orange Peel, and Monstercade VERY OFTEN. I also fly to NYC to catch shows at Radio City, Irving Plaza, St. Vitus, Brooklyn Steel, and others.

Before I retired, I handled Jay’s insurance at Ziggy’s for 20 years. My office was on Deacon Boulevard, right in front of Ziggy’s. I saw hundreds of shows there before he had to close. I had free reign to sit in on sound checks. I’d walk in around 2:00 p.m. wearing a suit and tie, grab a PBR beer, and sit dead center answering questions from the bands on how it sounded. Great memories!

@moonwatcher -- I was devastated when Jay had to shut down the old Ziggy's.  Wake Forest University used their clout with the city and screwed him over big time.  All those business properties on Baity Street and Deacon Boulevard were bought up or run out of business by a WFU front (me included) so Wake could develop it and add off-campus offices and parking.  After years, they just announced that whole stretch of Deacon Boulevard from University Parkway to the football stadium is being turned into an entertainment district.  I knew that was the plan when properties were being bought and flipped, but it's taken around 15 years.

Ziggy's was amazing while it lasted.  I first went to a show when it was the little white house where the Joel Coliseum parking lot is now located.  Saw Los Lobos in 1986.  It's mind blowing to see the list of the bands that played at Ziggy's from 1986 to 2006.  It was THE PLACE bands wanted to play on their way from D.C. to Atlanta.  Now, bands go to Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, Orange Peel in Asheville, or one of the Charlotte venues.  I mean, the huge Prog/Death Metal band Opeth played Ziggy's three times.  They still play smaller venues in the U.S. (I saw them 2 nights in a row in 2020 at The Apollo Theater in Harlem), but the also sellout 100,000 attendance festivals numerous times a year.

I keep wishing The RamKat will start booking bands like Ziggy's did...but it hasn't happened yet.

@pvnasby -- That’s cool. I wasn’t aware filming for that movie was in Winston-Salem. The city had quite a few movies, television episodes, and commercial work done here from 1988 to the mid-2000’s, then it sadly dropped off. A lot of filming has to do with the NC School of the Arts being here. I wish the city would leverage it more to get work. The State cut funding, and there was an exodus to the State of Georgia for film projects.

@slaw -- I've seen Trower several times, but I have to say the first was the best.  He was touring "Bridge of Sighs" with several tracks that would be on "For Earth Below".  James Dewar's voice and bass playing meshed perfectly with Bill Lordan's drumming, and allowed Trower to go in and out of leads seamlessly.  He set up his Marshall stack in a unique way  that just put out an amazing tone.

I was supposed to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Haw River a month ago, but several dates were postponed due to Efrim's illness.  I'm waiting for rescheduled dates.  Haw River Ballroom is beautiful, along with Visulite.

@thecarpathian -- When Zevon played "Roland..." live that night, he used an old pump organ.  Absolutely mind blowing spin on that song. Just Zevon and the pump organ.  He utilized the creaks, groans, and "whooshing" noises the organ made to add emphasis on parts of the song.  I can still hear it almost 30 years later.

@thecarpathian --