Happy New Year!

I just saw this video this morning and had to share it.  Tom Jones and CSNY performing Long Time Gone together on some German TV show back in 1969.  I think the first 45" I had when I was a kid was Tom Jones singing "She's A Lady".  I need to ask my parents how that happened...did I ask them to buy it for me?  Whatever the case I loved that record and was devastated when my baby brother accidentally broke it.

This performance is brilliant!  I've never heard Stills sing that high before.  A good start to hopefully a Groovy Tuesday for everyone....enjoy!

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Great Western Forum, Los Angeles 11/11/91

This is one of several shows where I took advantage of free tickets from work...it was a great perk.
I liked Petty's music and I may have owned one of his albums at this point, but I wouldn't have been looking to buy tickets to one of his shows.  Fortunately I took advantage of the freebies.

The show was sort of a revelation.  What I never really grasped before was what a great band these guys were...extremely tight!  And it also struck me that they had so many great songs.  It was like I had taken advantage of Tom Petty, I had let him entertain me for years and I never gave him anything in return...sort of like the relationship I have with my local NPR station.  (I used to subscribe)

 I can't find a setlist from the show but I found some clips from the tour.  The band recorded a concert video during the same month that I saw them called Take The Highway and you can find the entire video on You Tube.  Here are a few from the show that really remember being outstanding.

Guns N' Roses, Great Western Forum, Los Angeles 7/30/91

Edit this setlist | More Guns N' Roses setlists

I'm probably going to say this quite often as I go back in time and recall these concerts, " I can't believe that this was 20 years ago!"  It seems like yesterday that I was watching Axl Rose run across the stage in a kilt.  This Guns N' Roses show back in 1991 was another one of the concerts I was able to experience thanks to some free comps at work.  I wasn't a huge GNR fan but I did like some of their songs and was happy to take advantage of the free tix.  I'm glad that I did, it was quite an experience.

Back around the time of this show, there was quite a bit of drama surrounding GNR.  New album, new band members, and Axl being Axl.  Earlier in the month that I saw them Axl was charged with inciting a riot in St. Louis.   I remember that the big question was going to be when they would eventually come on-stage....Axl didn't really seem to care how late they were taking the stage back then.

Skid Row was the opening act...nothing memorable about their performance.  Then there was the wait for GNR which became sort of a show itself.  The video crew for the concert started working, scanning the crowd for hot chicks who would hopefully be encouraged by the guys in the crowd to take off their tops.  Several of them did.  I remember someone said that the band was watching the feed backstage and would determine which girls they would have join them by watching the video feed.  

When the show eventually started, it was a great performance.  I really was impressed with Axl.  The amount of energy that guy had, running across this big stage that they had and singing at the same time.  I don't remember his voice sounding bad that night.  I've seen some You Tube clips from the tour where he sounds awful, but he sounded alright the night I saw him.  Of course some people might wonder what my definition of "alright" is.

The setlist featured all of their big hits plus some material from Use Your Illusion.  Civil War is one of my favorite GNR songs and it was cool to hear them play it live.  All in all it was a definitely a unique show that I was glad that I was able to experience.  Coincidentally I could have shared that fact with Slash just this past weekend.  We were at Disneyland getting ready to ride the roller coaster called "California Screamin".  I was talking with my brother when I recognized Slash on the other side of the tracks, he and his family had a personal escort from Disneyland.  I didn't realize until after the ride was over that he was on one of the cars behind him.  I should have done my best Axl voice and screamed out "You're Gonna Die!"

Chris Isaak, Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles 2/22/91

Alright...it's been close to a month and a half since I made a post about a concert that I attended and since that was the original intent of this blog, it's time to get back on track. Next up on the concert calendar total recall is Chris Isaak at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on February 22, 1991.

I first heard Chris Isaak when his second album came out, we received a promotional copy at work. I really liked what I heard, incredible voice and a very cool guitar sound.  I went back and picked up his first record and then Heart Shaped World when it came out.  I had a chance to see him and his band play at a fundraiser for the Surfrider Foundation,  I think it was before I saw him at the Wiltern but I'm not sure.  He and his band sounded great live and what you realize when you see him in person is that besides having an amazing voice...he's a very funny guy.


When I saw him at the Wiltern, he was supporting the Heart Shaped World album and riding the success of Wicked Games which was receiving a lot of attention because it was a great song and oh yeah...the music video for the song at the time was considered risque.

It was my first show at the Wiltern and I really liked the setting. The show itself was good. The band didn't stray too much from how the songs sounded from the record.  Of course the key to the band back then was Isaak's guitarist James Wilsey.  His guitar playing created so much of the atmosphere in Isaak's music.  Luckily I got to see him play a couple of times before he left the band after recording the San Francisco Days album.

As I'm writing this, I can't believe that it's been 20 years since I saw this concert!  Where does time go?  I bought a few more of Chris's albums after seeing him, but I really stopped listening to him.  I think his sound was becoming a little too repetitive.  I've been listening to his music as I write this and it's fun to listen to him again.  I know he recently released a new album that he recorded at Sun Studios.  I've heard a few of his Elvis and Johnny Cash covers and they sound great.  After going down memory lane, I might just have to pick it up.

More Great Music on TV This Week!

Just finished watching the hour long Colbert Report with Radiohead...great show!  The web version offered more music to watch and listen to.  Then I noticed that Jimmy Fallon is having Pink Floyd Week.  Last night The Shins performed Breathe, tonight Roger Waters and The Foo Fighters are performing.

Wilco & Radiohead TV Appearances

Two of my favorite bands made live appearances on tv this past week.  Radiohead on Saturday Night Live and Wilco on Letterman.  Wilco actually played for a little over an hour in the Ed Sullivan Theater.  They started the show with the first track on their new album, it's  called "Art of Almost".  Love it!  I've seen Wilco twice, but since I have been journaling my concerts in the order that I saw them....my Wilco postings won't be coming for awhile!  Just had to share this show when I saw it was available.  Love this band...can't wait to see them on their next tour!



I've only seen Radiohead once, but definitely hope to catch them on their next tour.  They were amazing to see live!



 

ZZ Top, Great Western Forum, Los Angeles 11-25-90

It's really fun to go back and try to remember these shows...or in this case, to remember the reason why I was interested in seeing a band in the first place.

I can only find one ticket stub for ZZ Top, but I'm sure that I saw them twice.  Both times were at the Forum.  I was looking at a website that listed a Forum date prior to this tour as being in August of 1986.  That would have been the first time that I saw them.  I was working in Santa Barbara at the time and I went to the show with a friend.  I paid for those tickets.  At the show in 1990, the tickets were free.  I was working for a company that would get tickets to shows at The Forum.  I believe that this show was the first time that I was able to take advantage of those perks.  It would be the first of many.

I became a ZZ Top fan in the 70's.  I remember reading an article about them in Circus Magazine, I found this picture online from one of their magazines in 1975.  They were called "That Little Ol' Band From Texas" and the article was written about their Worldwide Texas Tour which included a stage in the shape of Texas as well as livestock on stage.

I don't remember if I had heard them by the time I saw this article or not?  Fandango came out in 1975 and that was the first album of theirs that I owned.  I loved that album, La Grange is one my all-time favorites.  I'm a big Billy Gibbons fan.  Of course ZZ Top exploded to an entirely new level in the 80's when their music videos, image and tweaked sound brought them a bigger audience.  I liked their 80's work, but not as much as their pre-Eliminator work.




Both times that I saw the band, their 80's synth mode was in full effect.  They still sounded alright, but I would have liked to seen them when they were more raw.  The 1990 show was on the Recycler Tour.  My favorite song from that album was My Heads In Mississippi which reminds me a little of La Grange.  As you can see, they were still producing music videos with hot girls and cars during this time!  Years later I was at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA when they had some cars from Billy Gibbons' collection on display.  I believe the car in this video is Billy's "Cadzilla" which is a beautiful car!




It was a good show...hearing Billy Gibbons play was definitely the highlight. I found a setlist for a show a couple days after the 11-25-90 date at The Forum.  This setlist from Sacramento looks pretty close to what they were playing back then.

Edit this setlist | More ZZ Top setlists

  I couldn't find any decent  live clips from this tour...so I went all the way back to 1980 for this great version of La Grange from Germany.  Love that nasty guitar sound!

Living Colour, Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, CA 11-20-1990

Talk about shifting gears!  I went from watching Linda Ronstadt in concert the month before to one of the heaviest shows I've ever been to the following month!

I was into Living Colour when their debut album came out and went to check them out at the Palladium when they were out supporting their Time's Up record.  I remember that the opening act was Trulio Disgracias, which was comprised of  Norwood Fisher of Fishbone and a bunch of his buddies.  It was a crazy show...energy was off the chart and now that I see the notes from the setlist, there was too much energy in the room.  Things were getting too physical in the mosh pit and the band had to stop during their third song in and ask the crowd to chill out.  The song was Time's Up and as you can see and hear, you really can't blame people for getting a little wound up!

 

Edit this setlist | More Living Colour setlists

Vernon Reid is an amazing guitarist and their rhythym section with bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun was awesome as well.  This band deserved more love than they got.  They played songs from the first two albums plus some great covers like "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" by The Clash and Traci Chapman's "Talkin' About A Revolution".  Unfortunately they didn't play their version of the Talking Heads "Memories".  Great show! 

By the way, I bought a Living Colour sweatshirt at the show and many people thought I must have been a fan of the tv show In Living Color. 

Linda Rondstadt, Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles 10-10-1990

I had to ask my wife this morning whether we paid for tickets to see Linda Ronstadt in 1990 or did someone give them to us?  She seemed surprised that I didn't think that we would have paid for them.  I think this would classify as the first concert I went to because my wife really wanted to go.  There will be a few more of these in the future.

I'm not complaining, it was a good show.  Linda Ronstadt has a great voice.  During this period we had been listening to her album "Canciones de mi Padre".  Her next album, "Cry Like A Rainstorm" was what she was promoting on this tour.  To paraphrase one of the songs from that record, I don't know much, but I know that Aaron Neville came on stage to perform the duets from that album.   It's always amazing to look at him and then hear the voice that emanates from him.  Doesn't really match.  I haven't been able to find any setlists from this period, but I remember that the show was comprised of much of the music from this album.

As I was looking for images and videos from this time period I came across this 1975 cover of Circus Magazine.  I used to buy this back in the day and I remember this cover because of the dress she was wearing.  That was the same dress I remember her wearing the first time I saw her on TV performing  the song "Heatwave".  That dress left an impression!  And thanks to the wonders of You Tube, I can share that memory with you.  Enjoy!

 

David Bowie, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles 5/26/1990

The first time I remember hearing David Bowie had to be around 1975, that's when I bought a 45 of Fame. I remember loving that song, not sure why....I just did. After that I remember hearing other Bowie songs on the radio, Golden Years, Young Americans, all from that time period. I had a friend who had won a copy of Station to Station from a radio station and I remember checking that out...but the only Bowie I owned for years was the 45 of Fame.

I believe the first time I saw Bowie on tv was on Saturday Night Live back in 1979. I remember because the outfits that he and the band were wearing were definitely unique.

I don't remember if Let's Dance was the first Bowie album I bought or not? If it wasn't, it would have been his greatest hits at the time ChangesOne. Regardless, I was becoming a big fan. When I was in college, my boss and friend at the tv station that I worked at sold all of his albums after becoming a born again Christian. I gladly took the Diamond Dogs and Pinup albums off of him. (Rest in Peace Fred) I also remember seeing a video of his Serious Moonlight tour while in college and thought that he and his band put on an amazing show.

So while I'm looking for the setlist for this show, I started to remember something about Bowie's Glass Spider Tour stopping in Anaheim. Did I go to that show? I don't have any ticket stub and I really don't remember it...so for the sake of my memory I hope that I didn't see it. But I did see him at Dodger Stadium on the Sound & Vision tour. I thought it was a great time to see him since he said that the tour would be the last time he played his old music. Like many others who have said something similar....he would not follow through on that promise. So here I am, really excited to see him, thrilled that Adrian Belew would be playing in his band too. The problem was first noticed during the opening act...Lenny Kravitz. It was my first concert at Dodger Stadium and we were sitting in the loge level facing the stage head on. There was a cement wall right behind us and the sound was bouncing off of it pretty badly. It didn't get any better during Bowie and although the setlist was amazing...the experience was definitely a disappointment because of the sound quality in the stadium. What's ironic is that I'm having to deal with the sound system in the same stadium 21 years later...and it still sounds like crap. At least there's some good quality clips on You Tube. These clips from Tokyo were captured less than two weeks before the Dodger Stadium show.

Grateful Dead, Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, CA 12-09-1989

This was my 6th Grateful Dead concert but it was only the second show that I had attended under a covered roof. My first show and first indoor show was a Radio City Music Hall, so comparing any other indoor shows to that would be tough, and this experience definitely suffered because of the venue. I have seen many concerts and sports events at The Forum, I liked the place, I think I just preferred my GD shows under the open sky.

I had to look at the Grateful Dead website to remember anything about the setlist that night. And thanks to Archive.org, I was able to listen to it all over again!

The band sounded good that night. They played Bird Song which is one of my favorites and the version from that night's show turned up on their Without A Net album. I had forgotten about the Dr. Mr. Fantasy/Hey Jude reprise that they played near the close of the show...that was definitely something new. In retrospect, they played a couple of my favorites that night that I had never seen them play before...Mexicali Blues and Cumberland Blues. Sounds great to hear the show all over again.

Strangely what I most remembered about this show was the great Lakers inspired Steal Your Face logo that I bought in the parking lot. It was really cool...had it on my pickup truck for years. I'm glad I'm going through the process of retracing my concert past because this show deserved more memories than just the cool sticker I bought in the parking lot.

The Worst Movie Of All-Time?

Just noticed that KDOC-TV is airing Elvira's Movie Macabre right now. The movie tonight is "Manos, the Hands of Fate". It's one of the worst movies ever made and it was featured on an episode of the late great series, Mystery Science Theater. Looked online and found the entire episode is available for viewing....enjoy!

David Byrne at Pantages Theater, Hollywood, CA 10/12/1989

Here's another concert that falls into the "I Wish I Had Seen Them With Their Original Band" category. Missing out on seeing The Talking Heads in concert is definitely one of my musical regrets, but at least there's the movie Stop Making Sense which is the next best thing to being there. Coincidentally that movie was shot at the Pantages.

David Byrne released the album Rei Momo just 9 days prior to this show, I'm not sure that I bought it before or after? He was touring with this great Latin band and I believe Celia Cruz and Tito Puente made guest appearances at the show. You can hear influences towards this musical direction on the Talking Heads "Naked" album which was released in 1988. It was my first time at the Pantages and it was a great venue for a show like this. The band was tight! The percussion and horn sections were amazing. This was definitely not a show to remain seated at, even if you can't dance (myself included) you couldn't help but get up and move. I wish I had a setlist for this show. I remember that most of the music that night was from Rei Momo, but I seem to remember at least one or two Talking Heads tracks. Great show!

Concert For Human Rights Now, LA Coliseum Sept. 21, 1988

What a great lineup for my second Amnesty International Show. Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour. This tour had 3 stops in the U.S. and one of the memorable aspects of the show was that the artists would join each others during their sets. Branford Marsalis joined Youssou N'Dour, Tracy Chapman sang "Don't Give Up" with Peter Gabriel, Sting joined Springsteen for "The River" and they all joined Springsteen on stage at the end for "Get Up Stand Up" and more. Of course we had to watch most of it on the big screen because we were a long way from the stage! But the music more than made up for the seat location. There were many musical highlights and there was one distinct non-musical highlight. Bono joined the proceedings as a Special Guest and when my wife saw him appear she shrieked "oh my God it's Bono!"

Happy 90th Birthday Dave Brubeck

This morning I was looking at the Sunday paper that I didn't get a chance to read yet and noticed that Dave Brubeck's 90th birthday was this past Monday. My Dad is a Dave Brubeck fan and he used to play his music for us. If I was putting together a playlist of my favorite jazz tracks of all-time Take Five and Blue Rondo A La Turk would definitely be included. If I had to make a playlist of some of the coolest tracks of all-time I would definitely include Take Five and Blue Rondo A La Turk. Happy Birthday Dave...hope you keep playing for many years to come.