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Eleven of the Best Rock Concerts I Have Attended

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I have been fortunate to go to a lot of rock concerts in my lifetime. Considering what tickets cost today, those old ducats from the seventies and eighties turned out to be pretty good deals. Most of those ticket prices were under twenty bucks. The late seventies concerts were all under ten dollars. Compared to today’s prices, those old shows were an absolute bargain. I’ve seen a lot of artists that are no longer with us, such as Jerry Garcia, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gregg Allman, Lou Reed, Keith Emerson, Freddie Mercury, BB King, and Jaco Pastorius, the great bass player for Weather Report. Other than completing artists or bands on my bucket list, I’m not too keen anymore to shell out big bucks being charged today.  In many cases I’d rather see up and coming artists in small venues, or good cover bands in clubs.

This is compilation of some of the most outstanding performances I’ve personally witnessed to date.  The Fleetwood Mac concert in March 1977 would have been included, but I’ve written about that show already.  That story is linked here, so it was omitted from this list.

James Taylor – Carmichael Auditorium – Chapel Hill –  March 3, 1982

This was JT’s triumphant return to his hometown. Taylor’s father was a professor at the UNC School of Medicine, ultimately becoming the school’s dean,  Rumors had been circulating for years that Taylor had no desire to perform in the Chapel Hill. Supposedly, the author of “Carolina In Mind” had too many bad memories from his adolescence here, that fueled his depression and subsequent drug addiction. Thus, he avoiding performing in the area. However, he received a hero’s welcome, the audience went nuts, and Taylor fed off the vibe.  Carmichael was not particularly known for its acoustics, but never sounded better. JT even improvised the lyrics to “You’ve Got a Friend” to include a reference to local Highway 15-501 that connects Durham and Chapel Hill.

 

Queen – Greensboro Coliseum – North Carolina – August 14, 1980

At the time, Queen was one of the hottest bands in the world. They were touring in support of their ninth studio album, “The Game” which would top the album charts in both the US and UK. If you’ve ever seen video from a Queen concert of that period, you see what an incredible performer Freddie Mercury was. He pranced. He danced, he played and sang. We had no idea that he would be gone eleven years later.  But that night, he owned the place with an 27-song epic set.

Setlist: Jailhouse Rock, We Will Rock You, Let Me Entertain You, Need Your Loving Tonight, Play the Game, Mustapha, Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…), Killer Queen, I’m in Love With My Car, Somebody to Love, Get Down Make Love, You’re My Best Friend, Save Me, Now I’m Here, Fat Bottomed Girls, Love of My Life, Keep Yourself Alive, Drum & Guitar Solos, Brighton Rock, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Tie Your Mother Down; Encore: Sheer Heart Attack, We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions, God Save The Queen

 

R.E.M. – NC Benefit for Africa – Meredith College – May 27, 1985

In the wake of Live Aid, a lot of Africa relief concerts took place. One was organized at a beautiful outdoor amphitheater at Meredith College in Raleigh. The show featured seven or eight popular bands local with R.E.M. as the headliner.  They were gracious enough to allow the fledgling UNC Student Television to film their performance, which featured songs from the soon-to-be-released third album “Fables of the Reconstruction.” Don Dixon, whose band Arrogance also graced the stage that day, and was a producer on their first two albums, joined the band for “Don’t Go Back To Rockville” and a cover of “Wild Thing.”

Complete show:

https://youtu.be/y0VrM-qYnkw

 

Paul Simon – Civic Opera House – Chicago – March 13, 1987

Simon brought his Graceland tour to Chicago’s historic, art deco Opera House.  Simon, and his band, along with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo played songs from the Grammy award winning album. It was a perfect setting for the acapella music, rhythmic dancing, and solo music by the South African artists. The 3500-seat auditorium may not be small compared to the club scene, but it’s far more intimate than the ten thousand plus seat amphitheaters and concert halls favored by rock stars.

U2 – Rosemont Horizon – Rosemont, IL – April 29, 1987

This was my first U2 concert, having missed another epic show which took place at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill four years earlier. The Rosemont show more than made up for it. The band had graced the cover of Time magazine two days earlier with the headline, “Rock’s Hottest Ticket,” and the show has become synonymous with that epithet. It remains a very popular U2 fan bootleg, which is surprising since the arena is not known for its acoustics. But the band and the audience connected, and the rest is history.

Frank Zappa – Auditorium Theatre – Chicago – March 4, 1988

One of the most underrated musical geniuses of all time brought his satirical Broadway the Hard Way tour to Chicago’s palatial Auditorium Theatre. Zappa loved to skewer anything and everything musically. His target this time was the disgraced  preacher Jimmy Swaggert. Using a medley of  Beatles songs and his lyrics, Zappa proceeded to eviscerate the televangelist in song. In addition, he brought Sting onstage, and they played “Murder by Numbers,” a Police song. Even better, he tossed some Zeppelin and Allman Brothers into the mix that magical evening.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/frank-zappa/1988/auditorium-theatre-chicago-il-5bd0ef74.html

Neville Brothers – Skyline Stage,  Navy Pier – Chicago – May 27, 1989

One of  New Orleans’ best known musical families kicked off a series of “twilight concerts” at the recently renovated Skyline Ballroom in the summer of 1989.  They were on tour to promote their fourth studio album “Yellow Moon.” Even though the show was broadcast live on radio station WXRT, it was still a hot ticket. Anyone who was there can attest as to what a great vibe there was in the room. The band dug it also and played beyond their allotted time as the crowd urged them on.

 

Stevie Ray Vaughn / Jeff Beck – UIC Pavilion – Chicago – October 28, 1989

This was the first of two times I was fortunate enough to see SRV in concert. The second show was his final performance, the night he perished in a tragic helicopter accident. The tour was dubbed “The Fire Meets The Fury.” Beck and Vaughn traded opening slots on a 29-date tour. For me this show is as noteworthy for what happened afterwards. On the chance that Vaughn might make a post concert appearance at one of the local blues clubs, something he was known for, my buddy Otis and I went to Kingston Mines. SRV did go to a blues club, but not the Mines. He was spotted at Buddy Guy’s southside establishment. However, we did meet Buddy Miles, and and we hung out all night with the former member of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys and Carlos Santana collaborator.

Here’s a video of Beck and Vaughn from the Chicago show

https://youtu.be/84_UvByGDkM

The Grateful Dead – Pine Knob Music Theatre – Clarkston, MI – June 20, 1991

I was lucky enough to see the Dead fifty times between 1985 and Jerry Garcia’s last show in July, 1995. As any Deadhead will tell you, no two Grateful Dead shows are alike.  The venue, the tour, the year, the people, and the vibe made every performance a unique event. City arena shows were very different than outdoor amphitheaters in remote locations like Alpine Valley, or Pine Knob, forty miles outside of Detroit.  What made this particular show memorable for me (and many others) was the song order of the second set, which seemed to go in reverse of a typical second set with “Throwing Stones” as the opening salvo. “All Along the Watchtower” and “Iko-Iko are presented outside of their normal settings, before the lengthy set closes with a reprise of “Throwing Stones” and Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” followed by an encore of the fan favorite “Brokedown Palace.”

Set 1: Touch of Grey, Greatest Story Ever Told, El Paso, Mexicali Blues > Maggie’s Farm, Bird Song

Set 2: Throwing Stones, Iko Iko, All Along The Watchtower, Standing On the Moon, He’s Gone > Drums > Space > The Wheel > I Need A Miracle > Walkin’ Blues > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away, E: Brokedown Palace

 

Phish – Biddy Mulligan’s – Chicago – April 13, 1991

When the discussion turns to talk about the best band I saw in a small venue, this is my show to brag about. One of my Deadhead friends from New England kept raving about this band from Vermont, so I promised to see their next show in Chicago. Little did I know they’d be packing arenas and amphitheaters for years to come. Biddys was relatively small club on the far north side of town, almost at the Evanston border. From the early seventies until its demise in 2003, the club featured a lot of the local blues greats like Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy, along with national talent like Wishbone Ash, Eric Burdon, and Blues Traveler. I remember seeing Leon Russell there. The posted capacity was 400, and I’m sure there were at least 500 folks that chilly April evening. The place was jam packed, and I was lucky to get a spot near the soundboard. The set was a mix of songs from 1990’s “Lawn Boy” and the yet to be released “A Picture of Nectar.” Most memorable for me was the inclusion of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” as the show closer. I haven’t attended a Phish concert since, because I’m not sure it could ever surpass that experience.

 

Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens – Oriental Theatre – Chicago – September 30, 2016

After a near death experience in 1976, this musical treasure of the late sixties and early seventies converted to Islam, and stopped performing for nearly thirty years. Songs like “Moonshadow,” “Peace Train,” and “Wild World” were soft rock and FM radio staples. When he finally returned to touring, I put him at the top of my concert bucket list.  The time off has kept his remarkable voice nearly intact, and he not only played his hits, but told the stories behind the songs, and delved into his musical catalog for some deep gems. The whole show was his life story, complete with a stage set recreating the small room above his parents restaurant in the London of his youth.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/yusuf-islam/2016/oriental-theatre-chicago-il-3bfdcc5c.html

 

Honorable mentions:

David Byrne – Arie Crown Theatre – Chicago – September 1992
Tom Tom Club – Paradiso – Amsterdam – April 2001
Prince – Super Bowl Halftime Show – Miami – February 2007
Steve Miller Band – Ravinia Festival – July 2009
Brian Wilson – Ravinia Festival – July 2013
Allman Brothers Band – Chicago Theatre – August 2013

Song Of The Day – “The Facts Of Life” by Talking Heads

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talkingheadsnakedBy 1988, Talking Heads were restless and running out of fuel. The band members were somewhat fed up with each other, and were not happy with the conventional pop direction that their previous two albums took them in.

For their final album called Naked, the group worked with producer Steve Lillywhite and decamped to France to record with the support of a host of East African, British, Irish and Caribbean musicians. Before leaving for Paris, the band worked up 40 basic improvisational rhythm tracks as a jumping off point in the studio. In Paris, the group would jam on one of the tracks each day and select the best take at the end of the day to use as the basis for a new song.

When the band returned to New York, David Byrne sang along with each track phonetically until lyrics and melodies developed, and then the rest of the band came in to overdub their parts onto the basic tracks. This improvisational method of recording was much more in line with records like Fear Of Music and Remain In Light; however, those albums have a very loose feel while Naked’s tune stack is tighter and far more structured.

Lyrically, the overall theme of Naked has to do with the survival of our planet and how the human race has placed a giant monkey on the back of the world that we can’t escape or control.  The album’s title and cover were loosely based on a Chinese proverb; “If there is no tiger in the mountains, the monkey will be king,” which is printed on the inside of the cover, and monkeys turn up numerous times in the lyrics to the songs.

The album opens with the apocalyptic James Brown funk of “Blind,” featuring the propulsive rhythm section of Chris & Tina Weymouth with Byrne ranting lyrics like “He’s hurt / He’s dying / Claimed he was a terrorist / Claimed to avert a catastrophe / Someone should’a told him / That the buck stops here / No one ever said / That he was involved with thieves / And they’re blind,” on top of it all at his most annoying best.

The hilarious first single, “(Nothing But) Flowers,” tackles the human tendency to get back to the garden. The song’s protagonist lives in a world where the modern conveniences of today like “Dairy Queens and 7-11s” are replaced with fields of grass and flowers restoring the world to its original splendor, only to find it too inconvenient without them. The song was accompanied by a terrific video and featured Kirsty MacColl on backup vocals and Johnny Marr of The Smiths on guitar. Marr’s guitar work can also be heard on the tracks “Ruby Dear,” Mommy Daddy You & I” and “Cool Water.”

Several songs on the album including “Mr. Jones,” “Ruby Dear” and “Big Daddy” have a distinct Latin influence pointing toward the direction that David Byrne would later take for his solo record Rei Momo the following year. The totally refreshing and buoyant “Totally Nude” has a fluid African guitar feel courtesy of Yves N’Djock that is in a similar vein to what Paul Simon had done several years earlier on his Graceland album, but far more danceable.

While the first half of the album features lighter, more danceable fare, the album’s second half turns very dark typified by tracks like “Mommy Daddy You And I,” “The Democratic Circus,” “Bill” and today’s Song Of The Day. “The Facts Of Life” begins with a dank, industrial sound courtesy of Jerry Harrison, and then shifts from a minor key to a major key halfway through to let some much needed light in. Monkeys once again turn up in the lyrics which talk about how we are nothing more than machines of love – “Monkey see and monkey do / Making babies, eating food  / Smelly things, pubic hair / Words of love in the air…The facts of life / The facts of life / A masterpiece / Biology…Machines of love / Machines of love.”

The huge list of guest musicians that turn up here almost sink the contributions of the rest of the group making this record sound more like a David Byrne solo album than a proper Talking Heads record, and indeed several months after its release, the group opted to call it a day.

Song Of The Day – “Under Heavy Manners” by Robert Fripp with David Byrne

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robertfrippdavidbyrneAfter the demise of King Crimson in 1974, Robert Fripp spent several years laying low before entering a period of high activity from 1977-1980, resulting in some of his most interesting collaborations. Starting in 1977, Fripp joined Brian Eno in Germany to add guitar parts to David Bowie’s “Heroes.”  This was followed by Fripp’s production of albums for Daryl Hall (Sacred Songs), Peter Gabriel (his second album with the “Scratch” cover) and the eponymously titled album by The Roches, plus sessions with an amalgam of like-minded artists including Peter Hammill (of Van Der Graaf Generator), Brian Eno, Blondie (on Parallel Lines), Jerry Marrota, Phil Collins and Tony Levin. Some of these sessions resulted in tracks that made up Fripp’s first solo record, Exposure released in 1979. After the release of Exposure, Fripp also participated in sessions with Talking Heads (Remain In Light), David Bowie (Scary Monsters) and Peter Gabriel (his third album known as Melt).

God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners was the follow-up to Exposure, which was supposed to be the third in a trilogy of records he produced, with Sacred Songs by Daryl Hall as the first and Peter Gabriel’s second album as the second. However, RCA records refused to release the Daryl Hall record in 1977 deeming it too uncommercial (and kept it on the shelf for a full three years), so a re-think was needed.

At this point, Fripp was enmeshed in “Frippertronics” which is a tape loop technique he and Brian Eno developed putting two reel-to-reel tape decks side by side, with the tape on the recording deck capturing a sound and then as the tape passes through the playback head of the second deck, it is played back with a delay before being threaded onto the take-up reel of the second deck.

Fripp had used the technique on the albums No Pussyfooting and Evening Star with Brian Eno, on David Bowie’s Heroes, as well as on Exposure and the Hall and Gabriel records. The God Save The Queen album side (designated as “Side One”) featured pure Frippertronic recordings of just loops, while the Under Heavy Manners side (designated as “Side A”) featured what Fripp termed “Discotronics,” which augmented the pure “Frippertronics” with a dance beat.

During the recording  of Manners, Fripp was also working with Talking Heads on their album Remain In Light, so for the only track with vocals, Fripp invited David Byrne (billed as Absalm el Habib) to sing. All of the guitar tracks on the album were recorded live in 1979 while Fripp toured behind Exposure, with the bass played by Busta Jones who was also involved in the Talking Heads sessions, and drum tracks by Paul Duskin, added later in the studio.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Dinosaur/The Red House/Wheezing/Eggs In A Briar Patch” by David Byrne

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It was a creative peak for David Byrne. Talking Heads were coming off their hugely successful “Remain In Light” album and expanded band tour. Byrne had been collaborating more and more with Brian Eno, much to the chagrin of the rest of the band. By 1981, Byrne and Eno released their experimental “My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts” album that mixed samples of found recordings with funk backing tracks. Their landmark use of sampling predated its use in rap and hip hop music. It was within this atmosphere in 1981 that choreographer Twyla Tharpe commissioned David Byrne to compose a score for her dance piece called “The Catherine Wheel.” Byrne composed a 70-minute score that was released in its entirety on CD and cassette, while the vinyl version only featured about 40 minutes of music. For the recording of this project, Byrne gathered many of the musicians who worked with him in the expanded Talking Heads, including Heads member Jerry Harrison on keyboards, Adrian Belew on guitar, Brian Eno on numerous instruments, Yogi Horton on drums, Dolette McDonald on vocals, Steve Scales on percussion and Bernie Worrell, also on keyboards. With the exception of “Eggs In A Briar Patch,” today’s Song Of The Day focuses on some of the incredibly inventive instrumental pieces Byrne composed for the dance. “The Catherine Wheel” opened on September 22, 1981 at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City. Several of the tracks including “Big Blue Plymouth Eyes,” “My Big Hands (Fall Through The Cracks),” “Big Business” and “What A Day That Was” found their way into the Talking Heads’ repertoire and were performed extensively on the band’s 1982-1983 “Stop Making Sense” tour.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Memories Can’t Wait” by Talking Heads

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Former art school students have a funny way of expressing themselves. Like naming an album “Fear Of Music” and including a song like this one that conjures deep seated feelings of dread and ill will. But it doesn’t end there…Byrne numbly mumbles throughout this record asking himself  questions like “What is happening to my skin? Where is that protection that I needed?” in another song. “This ain’t no party…this ain’t no disco…this ain’t no fooling around” is another rally cry that adds to the grim picture on Talking Heads’ third aptly titled 1979 platter. It’s a record where “Heaven is a place, a place where nothing ever happens”…albeit, the Heaven in question here is not a final resting place, but a club. Producer, Brian Eno was once again invited to this party and the growth between this album and the one that came before it felt on all levels. The Heads’ palate expanded to include African rhythms and straight-ahead funk and disco. While this was the last album to be created by the core quartet, the song “I Zimbra” pointed towards the future with an expanded lineup that featured numerous percussionists and Robert Fripp on guitar. In other places we’re treated to songs with titles like “Drugs,” “Mind,” “Paper” and “Electric Guitar.” Oh and there were hits too…”Life During Wartime” and “Cities” that filled dance floors around the world.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Electricity (Drugs)” by Talking Heads

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Electricity (Drugs)” by Talking Heads

One of the musical highlights of our 16 hour car trip from The Outer Banks of North Carolina back home to Chicago was listening Talking Heads’ live double album entitled The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. The second half of the album features recordings from the 1980-81 Remain In Light tour when Talking Heads expanded from a quartet of David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz to a 10-piece band adding Adrian Belew on guitars, Busta Cherry on bass, Bernie Worrell on keyboards, Joe Rossy on percussion and Dolette McDonald and Nona Hendryx on vocals.

By 1979, Brian Eno’s influence was felt all over the Heads’ music, especially on more atmospheric songs like today’s Song Of The Day originally from their Fear Of Music album. Eno’s input was beginning to create a chasm within the band because the rest of the group felt that he was monopolizing David Byrne’s attention. Today’s song’s title was changed from “Drugs” to “Electricity” by the time it was released on the album in 1979. Whatever tension Eno’s presence created also resulted in the band taking off in a far more interesting direction with a brand-new funkified line-up. The video portion of today’s posting shows the expanded Heads in action (particularly Belew) from a show broadcasted on TV from Rome in 1980. (Today’s Song of The Day begins at 20:00 into the 64-minute clip. Having seen this version of Talking Heads several times in concert, it is well worth watching if you have the time.)

By the time we got around to hearing the The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads album at the tail end of our trip it was as a follow-up to a most-enjoyable spin of XTC’s Black Sea. And it was just the tonic we needed to wield our way through Saturday night Chicago city traffic and back up to the northern suburbs. Home Sweet Home!