Your biggest concert memories?

[Brad Kaenel]

June 3 and 4, 1994:

 

The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" Tour, on the lawn at the (now extinct) Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino, CA

Barbra Streisand "The Concert" Tour, in the nosebleeds (initially; *read on) at the (now rebadged) Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA

 

I've only been to four bona fide "big venue, big ticket" concerts in my life; these were memorable because they were both huge "comeback" tours, and they were back-to-back nights out with my wife (grandparents had the kids all weekend).

 

 

*We arrived pretty early for Barbra, making like mountain goats to get to the only seats we could afford -- absolutely the farthest and highest point you could be away from the stage (and *still* $200 each!) When we arrived up there, we found our small little section of seats was covered up with a tarp. A nice, polite attendant stationed there took a look at our tickets, verified we were in the correct location, and then told us that during rehearsals our seats (and the parallel section across the venue) had been deemed unusable because of the poor sight lines to the stage, and that he was holding seats for us in a different location; "Please follow me". So, back down the mountain we go, and he leads us to seats only four rows above the orchestra and maybe 50 feet from the stage. Those were probably $5000 seats ("Hey, Dustin!; Warren, lookin' good, man!") and on stage right where Barbra stationed herself almost the entire evening. We were definitely *not* dressed to be sitting where we were, and my wife and I just cracked up all night because the glam crowd around us had to be thinking "Who *are* these people, and how did they get these seats?!"

 

Marvin Hamlisch conducted the orchestra; Barbra was sublime.

[Polychrest]

This started out nice and short but then got seriously out of hand. Three long-ago concerts that I still remember vividly:

 

 

March, 1969: The Nice at Toronto's Rock Pile (the comfortable old Masonic Temple). I was there because I'd heard they had an amazing keyboard player--some guy named Emerson--and I had some small ambition in that direction. The turnout was sparse. I was able to park myself very close to the beat-up Hammond spinet (an L-100?) on stage. Over the next two hours, this Emerson guy--his first name turned out to be Keith--blew my sheltered young mind. I'd never heard, never seen, never imagined such a dynamic fusion of monster rock chops, classical virtuosity and Barnum and Bailey showmanship all rolled up in one astounding keyboard player. The Nice repertoire was uneven and not always engaging, but Emerson kept things intensely interesting with his playing, knife work and gear-wrassling. A revelation.

 

 

May, 1969: The Who, also at The Rock Pile in Toronto. They'd officially released 'Tommy' a couple of days before and were booked to play two sold-out shows that night. I was there for both, thanks to a friend in Catharsis, the house light show, who let us stay in their booth while the first show crowd was cleared out. Pete Townshend started the evening with an announcement: "I understand there's a band from around here who's nicked our name. So we're going to nick one of their songs." They kicked off with "Shakin' All Over" by the Guess Who, who were from Winnipeg, which is nowhere near Toronto. Still, they would have appreciated the salute dressed up as a diss.

 

The Who were great: energetic, consistently tight, astonishingly musical. They seemed nervously proud of the now-classic tunes they were previewing from 'Tommy'. Keith Moon was a monster. Whatever substance he was on, we all wanted some. The second show was just as good as the first--same material, same quality. Townshend was doing windmills all night. Sometime during the second show he started wiping the heel of his strumming hand on the back of his white jeans during and after songs. Near the end of the show he turned his back to the audience during a reverse windmill with a half-twist, and we saw a big blotch of blood staining his ass. He'd cut himself flailing at his guitar and never missed a beat to clean it up or bandage it. Great band playing great new material in a great small hallâperfect.

 

 

March, 1977: The Rolling Stones at The El Mocambo club in Toronto. This was supposed to be a secret gig. Local radio station offers listeners free tickets for two nights of shows by good east coast band April Wine at a trendy 300-seat bar. The kicker: April Wine were actually opening for the Rolling Stones, who wanted to record some live album material in a club setting and avoid a circus.

 

The cone of secrecy worked the first night. April Wine played a killer set; then, to the amazement of the contest-winners in the audience, the Stones took the stage and cracked the space-time continuum. Among the comped guests that night was Justin Trudeau"s mother Margaret, who was allegedly hanging with the Stones. To make things even edgier, Keith Richards had been busted a few days earlier for possession of enough heroin to warrant a trafficking charge. He was not happy.

 

Word of the show got out. Everybody in the music business who wasn"t there for night one wanted in for night two. How cool would that be, I thought. In those days, I did some freelance writing for record company A&R and promo weasels. One of them, a good friend to this day, asked me the next morning if I"d like to see the Stones at the Elmo with him that night. Two tickets had fallen into his lap at work. I"d have to buy him a very expensive dinner. Umâ¦.let me think about itâ¦.YES!!!

 

We had to wear special stick-on cloth badges to get through the police line that surrounded the club for crowd control when we got there. Mine said 'Cockroaches Live in Concert' and was signed by Stones tour manager Peter Rudge. What an electric world it opened up for me. We entered through the kitchen. We found seats against the wall opposite the stage. To see The Stones from that close up, among the most jacked-up crowd I"ve ever experienced for any eventâartistic, sporting, religiousâwas exceptional. The Stones were very good. Mick was focused and serious. Keith was a cadaverous shade of gray inside his perpetual halo of cigarette smoke, but from the first chords of Honky Tonk Women to the end, he killed. To my great delight, Billy Preston played with them. I loved every minute.

 

And I got a 2,000-word cover story feature out of it that appeared in a local music rag. The Stones were still in Toronto because of Keith"s legal troubles when it came out. A guy who knew a guy told me that Keith read it in his hotel room and said, 'At least he didn"t call me a junkie.'

[David Emm]

*Went to see Roy Clark because he was masterful at a large number of stringed instruments. I was floored at what I got, because he played from the center of a circle of stands featuring everything from banjo to ukulele. He also stepped from one style to the next in a manner that made my jaw swing. It was like the country version of the awe I felt from witnessing ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery" in quad. Some people are so good at it, they levitate a bit in concert.

 

*Boy George threw a pair of his panties at me from a stage in Seattle. Too bad someone snagged them in mid-air. It would have made for a great ebay bidding war.

[Jazz+]

The Beatles at Candlestick Park August 1966. The seats were behind the dugout and the sound was clear. I was a precocious privileged 10 year old.

Top that!

[Zydecat]

New Riders of the Purple Sage, Waylon Jennings, and the Grateful Dead, Kezar Stadium, Golden Gate Park, early 1974 (yup, old fart here). Musically, not the best I've attended, but certainly the most memorable. Waylon had Ralph Mooney on pedal steel, best part of the show, an amazing player. They also used the "wall of sound" PA system - I think my ears rang for 2-3 days.

[Docbop]

New Riders of the Purple Sage, Waylon Jennings, and the Grateful Dead, Kezar Stadium, Golden Gate Park, early 1974 (yup, old fart here). Musically, not the best I've attended, but certainly the most memorable. Waylon had Ralph Mooney on pedal steel, best part of the show, an amazing player. They also used the "wall of sound" PA system - I think my ears rang for 2-3 days.

 

I saw the New Riders of the Purple Sage and Grateful Dead down here in Hollywood about the same time. Seeing the Dead is a whole environment that includes a concert one of those things you have to experience to understand.

[Doerfler]

. Seeing the Dead is a whole environment that includes a concert one of those things you have to experience to understand.

 

Didn't see them as early as '74, but did see them a few times and agree.

[bill bosco]

when i was a kid i got to see the Chambers Brothers , they did , among other things " time has come " , was bigger than life . i did get to see the Stones at the Garden sometime in the '70s ,

was the tour where they had steel bands from the city coming down the aisles, opening for them . Billy Preston was on keys , i saw the opening number , passed out and came to toward the end of the last number ,

well , it was the '70s , at least i wasn't driving

[Threadslayer]

1973 Watkins Glen, NY. Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers and the Band. I still have my ticket somewhere. 600,000 people estimated.

[Dave Bryce]

June 3 and 4, 1994:

Barbra Streisand "The Concert" Tour, in the nosebleeds (initially; *read on) at the (now rebadged) Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA

 

I've only been to four bona fide "big venue, big ticket" concerts in my life; these were memorable because they were both huge "comeback" tours, and they were back-to-back nights out with my wife (grandparents had the kids all weekend).

 

 

*We arrived pretty early for Barbra, making like mountain goats to get to the only seats we could afford -- absolutely the farthest and highest point you could be away from the stage (and *still* $200 each!) When we arrived up there, we found our small little section of seats was covered up with a tarp. A nice, polite attendant stationed there took a look at our tickets, verified we were in the correct location, and then told us that during rehearsals our seats (and the parallel section across the venue) had been deemed unusable because of the poor sight lines to the stage, and that he was holding seats for us in a different location; "Please follow me". So, back down the mountain we go, and he leads us to seats only four rows above the orchestra and maybe 50 feet from the stage. Those were probably $5000 seats ("Hey, Dustin!; Warren, lookin' good, man!") and on stage right where Barbra stationed herself almost the entire evening. We were definitely *not* dressed to be sitting where we were, and my wife and I just cracked up all night because the glam crowd around us had to be thinking "Who *are* these people, and how did they get these seats?!"

 

Marvin Hamlisch conducted the orchestra; Barbra was sublime.

We got to see her as well. My friend Dave Reitzas is her studio engineer, so we got tickets to see the dress rehearsal "friends and family" show at the Staples center (floor and first tier only) for her last tour a few years ago.

 

What an amazing experience. She's simply unreal...and the sound was among the best I've ever heard - not at all directional, the musicians in the stage just all sounded loud enough for us to hear them. She's pretty damn funny as well..no surprise there.

 

dB

[Delaware Dave]

No one yet has said Woodstock! I thought this was an old fart's forum; I guess we're not that old yet....

[drawback]

As a die-heard BB King fan I'd him three times in various venues. The fourth time, we got front-row center seats as unclaimed by a promotion. At the end of the show during the SO, BB usually takes his "game pick" and hands it off to someone in the audience â he walked directly over to me, handed me the pick and shook my hand. I still have the pick, but I decided that was the last time I'd ever see his show â there couldn't be a better one.

 

While we're discussing these biggest concert memories, I keep thinking about biggest concerts I regret not taking in when I had the chance â mind if I indulge?

 

1. Ray Charles who never returned before he died.

2. Oscar Peterson who would soon retire after suffering arthritis for years.

3. James Brown who passed away a few months later.

4. Boz Scaggs. I would have had to drive 3 hours to the show & back, but his band became Toto after the tour.

[Claus H]

Some memories:

 

Late 70s, in Copenhagen, I saw Jerry Lee Lewis, with Duane Eddy opening.

It was a good show, but more importantly, it taught me an important lesson about the damage sound can do.

The PA system was moderately sized, and way overdriven. Horrific volume with distortion.

It wasn't until I left and went out into the city that I realized what had happened. The Saturday night traffic was silent; pedestrians couldn't be heard...my ears were paralyzed for about 20-25mins.

I never forgot this. Earplugs became standard for me for any shows after that night.

 

 

Roy Orbison had been a hero of mine since I was a kid in Denmark, and after moving to the US in 1980, and subsequently getting married, I introduced my wife to his music (which she loved.)

Living in WDC, I was surprised to see Orbison booked at the Bayou, which was a fairly small club, as these things go.

I had never seen him, didn't know at the time that he had kept his voice intact, and been touring for so many years.

The show was superb. On that small stage, Orbison just blew the roof off with his big hits. We stayed for both sets, me eventually on a chair, hollering at the top of my lungs. My wife said she had never seen me like this...

 

 

Two work-related show memoirs:

I was doing hotel A/V camera work for a while, and one night we had (yet another) corporate dinner with live music ( this was around 1990).

Turns out, Chubby Checker was the hired entertainment.

I was the only one excited about this; the rest of the techs thought he was just some old has-been, and made rude jokes about his music.

 

This was before he arrived...

The show Chubby put on that night was pure showmanship and pure professionalism.

Sweating like he was about to have a stroke, he tore around on the stage, whipping everyone in the crowd up as if he were playing at a huge club and not in a depressing hotel ballroom.

Towards the end, he had women come up and dance with him, and he capped it by doing the bump-and-grind with the wife of the CEO who was paying for the whole evening.

My camerawork was on auto-pilot that night; my shots just flowed with the music and I loved every moment of it.

Afterwards, there was a kind of quiet among the crew when we were striking; I had the impression they hadn't exactly anticipated such a show, after all the jokes...

 

 

I was hand-held stage camera at Wolf Trap for Elton John when he was on tour promoting his "The One" album.

Wolf Trap is a semi-covered outdoor stage with a sloping lawn. It was a warm August night.

Elton was a hard worker, with a long show list of hits, and he played a solo piano set while his band took a break.

After a number of his big ones, he got to "Candle in the Wind".

As the lights dropped and Elton started "Candle", I was peering over my camera from stage, looking up at the lawn, at the silent crowd.

Gradually people pulled out their lighters, quietly, and lit them as the sad lyrics flowed through the night. The light breeze, the little lights in the dark and the gorgeous music all joined up.

There is an expression, something like "The Universe was Listening", and that's what it felt like...like everything was holding its breath.

I was crying by the end of it. I have heard the song quite a few times since, over the years, but that night was when I truly felt the power of it.

 

C.

[ChiefDanG]

No one yet has said Woodstock! I thought this was an old fart's forum; I guess we're not that old yet....

 

I was at Woodstock. The highlight for me was Sly & the Family Stone.

 

Saw NRBQ in a small theater - fantastic.

Saw Yes a couple times - unbelievable.

Little Feat twice - very cool.

ELP 3 times - Carnegie Hall, first tour. The best highlight of my concert-going life, hands down.

[vonnor]

Mine will always be the first time I got to see Sir Elton John, musta been late '70's. The afternoon before tickets went on sale I travelled to the arena and was a little disappointed to find 6 other fans already in line and camping out. This was way before the day of online sales. I waited all night and slept on the concrete with my jacket as a pillow. It was a relatively warm night so I wasn't that uncomfortable. The next morning the box office opened at 9am and the line started moving. I was filled with the confidence of youth that I would be getting great seats, but when my turn came the best available was row 15! In a frustrated panic I took row 15 on the center isle.

 

Not being one to give up so easily, and remembering that the local Sears also had a ticket counter, but did not open until 9:30, I literally ran the 1.5 miles to Sears having had no water since the afternoon before and no food. I got to Sears at 9:50 and was heartbroken to see another line of fans stretching almost around the corner.

 

Still not willing to give up, I hurried around the back of the building and found the employee's entrance. I walked right in like I belonged and was not challenged. Found myself in a stair-well and went up to the 2nd floor, then out into the shoe department just as I began to hear the sounds of running feet from the escalator. Quickly gaining my bearings I hurried to the ticket counter and got there just before the mob - gaining several dirty looks and "WTF's."

 

First-in-line, I was told the best available seats were row 2, but way down toward the left. I bought those with my fingers crossed, then hung back away from the counter for a few minutes. Predictably, within a few minutes, I heard folks being told the best available was now in the row 20's. When that happened I proclaimed I had 2 seats row 15 center isle that I would sell at face.

 

Three minutes later I left to catch the bus back home.

 

When the day of the concert arrived and I walked into the arena, I was pleasantly shocked to see where they had set-up Elton's piano.

 

Down-stage-right.

 

I got to watch his hands the whole show. It was epic!

 

~ vonnor

[slg1013]

I have four to share and they were all personal "firsts" for me.

 

1. Elton John - 1976 - Madison Square Garden - My first concert and I was a huge Elton John fan - was learning to play Elton's catalog, bedroom walls covered in Elton poster, created scrap books of Elton articles from magazines. I was 12 years old and my parents took me and my little brother who was 8. My parents (well just my mom at this point) still laugh when they recount my brother and I looking at them and saying "Ew... What's that smell?" Concert was amazing - James Newton Howard on keys - I think he had 2 or 3 Arp 2600s in the rig...

 

2. U2 - 1992 - Dodger Stadium - The 2nd date with my wife. We were married two years later and I've been torturing her ever since...

 

3. Rush - 2007 - Hollywood Bowl - The 1st concert for my son. He was almost 12 years old and loved every second of it. I could only laugh when he asked be about the "smell"...

 

4. Thank You Scientist with Bent Knee and Tea Club - 2019 - Bootleg Theater - The 1st concert for my daughter who was 14. She was exhausted having participated in a dance competition the entire weekend, but still seemed to love every minute of it.

 

Love sharing live music with the family...

[NewImprov]

Here are a few:

 

Kansas, 1977, Portland OR: First big rock concert I saw, and I was huge Kansas fan at the time. Blew my mind. I had no idea that a band could play with that kind of precision and still rock.

 

Ornette Coleman and Prime Time, Eugene OR, 1982. I was taking a history of Jazz class in college at the time, and we were supposed to attend and write about a certain number of shows. I was already familiar with Miles' albums like Bitches Brew, so I knew about Jazz that existed beyond the mainstream, but this show, with Ornette's electric double trio seriously rescrambled my brain, it was funky and earthy, grooved hard, but was totally abstract at the same time.

 

Talking Heads, 1983, Hult Center, Eugene, OR. One of the first shows at the then-new Hult Center, and this was just a few nights before the concerts for the film. Amazing performance.

 

Fela Kuti and Egypt 80, 1989, The Fillmore, San Francisco CA, 2 nights. A Zimbabwean Marimba band I was in at the time opened these shows, and a third in Santa Cruz. Fela had 30+ musicians, dancers and singers onstage, it was one of the most powerful band's I've ever seen.

 

McCoy Tyner trio, Britt Festival, Jacksonville, OR, 1990. My girlfriend (now wife) came with me on tour with the above-mentioned marimba band for a set of shows in Northern CA, including a festival in Shasta City that turned out to be an absolute bust. When we played Ashland on that tour, I noted that McCoy was playing the same weekend. When the band decided to bail on the festival in Shasta, I volunteered to drive our van full of instruments back to OR a day early, which meant we could catch the McCoy concert. Got to the outdoor venue, got tickets, and, just as we were entering the ampitheater, they opened up the area right in front of the stage for seating on the grass. Got to see McCoy's trio from about 15 feet from his piano, with full view of his hands.

 

Damn, I miss live music.

[Dave Weiser]

Bootsy Collins with Bernie Worrell at the Paradise in Boston, must have been 1993?

 

P-Funk at Lupo's in Providence, around the same year - they played from 9pm to 2am nonstop, just swapped in different players over the course of the evening so everyone could get a break.

I got drunk, sobered up, got drunk again, had at least two meals, and smoked a bushel of weed. This one had it all - I laughed, I cried!

 

Thunderbirds - Dr. John - Buddy Guy - B.B. King at the Mann Music Center outside of Philly in 1991. Buddy stole the show!

 

Marcel Marceau, 1984, at age 12 in Reading PA. There was a technical snafu, so we actually got to hear him speak as he told us they'd be doing that last bit over again.

[Outkaster]

King's X

AWESOME!! One of the greatest underrated bands ever, they were really influential to a lot of rockers back in the 80s and 90s. Sad I never got to see them live, I'm jealous!

 

Yeah but you saw Marley in his prime. That's incredible and extremely rare thing.....if you only knew.

[Docbop]

Bootsy Collins with Bernie Worrell at the Paradise in Boston, must have been 1993?

 

P-Funk at Lupo's in Providence, around the same year - they played from 9pm to 2am nonstop, just swapped in different players over the course of the evening so everyone could get a break.

I got drunk, sobered up, got drunk again, had at least two meals, and smoked a bushel of weed. This one had it all - I laughed, I cried!

 

Thunderbirds - Dr. John - Buddy Guy - B.B. King at the Mann Music Center outside of Philly in 1991. Buddy stole the show!

 

Marcel Marceau, 1984, at age 12 in Reading PA. There was a technical snafu, so we actually got to hear him speak as he told us they'd be doing that last bit over again.

 

 

I like your taste in music.

[louderdan]

Prince - in the round Wembley Area - I swear he dropped a guff through his guitar pickup

[TommyRude]

I"d have to say Dolly Parton was probably the biggest I"ve witnessed in concert.

You sir, win the internet

[Brad Kaenel]

June 3, 1994: The Eagles, "Hell Freezes Over" tour; San Bernardino, CA

June 4, 1994: Barbra Streisand, "The Concert" tour, Anaheim, CA

 

Haven't been to too many big stadium concerts, but the two best were back-to-back.

 

Talk about a vocal performance perfection weekend; just sublime.

 

The Eagles; as said above, nothing flashy on-stage, almost as if the audience wasn't even there. But they delivered every song with panache and enviable musicianship.

 

Barbra Streisand; what can you say? A note-perfect 3-hour solo performance; Marvin Hamlisch conducting the orchestra. We could only afford the nose-bleed tix, but on arrival we were offered new seats right next to the stage because of sight-line issues the previous night. Magical.

 

[D. Gauss]

Biggest concert memory?  110 thousand people at JFK stadium in Philly.  i know there's much bigger, but that's the biggest one i remember being at....

[JohnH]

On 2/22/2021 at 5:47 PM, Brad Kaenel said:

June 3 and 4, 1994:

 

The Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" Tour, on the lawn at the (now extinct) Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino, CA

Barbra Streisand "The Concert" Tour, in the nosebleeds (initially; *read on) at the (now rebadged) Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA

 

I

 

Blockbuster the company is extinct, but the concert venue is the same as the Pond- re-badged and still open and holding concerts.  Kid Rock was just a week ago, Art Laboe featuring several R&B bands was two days ago.

 

https://www.facebook.com/GlenHelenAmphitheater/

[Mills Dude]

Best

 

NYE 1982 Billy Joel at MSG - I was 16 years old and still a big BJ fan.  Loved Nylon Curtain and BJ was at his peak.  Scalped pretty good seats the day of the show for $50 a pop.  Fantastic way to ring in the New Year.  After show cannolis in Little Italy was the perfect icing on the cake.

 

1988 Zappa at the Beacon - Fantastic show, the brass section playing the solo on Stairway to Heaven, Whipping Post in the encore and all those great Zappa tunes.  I had tickets for 2 nights but sold the first set to see another show detailed in my worst, still regret that.  I think that was Zappa's last tour.  Glad I got to see it.

 

1990 Todd Rundgren, New Ritz (Old Studio 54), NYC -  I dabbled a bit in Todd's stuff and really liked the Nearly Human record.   I had never seen Todd before so I wasn't expecting much.  The show was so good and the band was killer.  That record has a lot of great keyboard driven pop/rock.   Caught the Second Wind tour a year later, same venue.  Also a great show.  I think Roger Powell was covering keys.

 

1991 Paul Simon, Garden State Arts Center - Never much into Paul Simon at the time but that changed  This was post Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints period.  Such an awesome show, great musicianship all throughout with the great Richard Tee and Steve Gadd.  Many of the older tunes were re-arranged.  Great memory.

 

1997 Rush at Jones Beach -  I had seen Rush a bunch a few times in the late 80's (Roll the bones, etc.), but I was never a big Rush freak.  My buddy and I copped some tickets and the show was fantastic.  Geddy's voice was spot on with all the older material.  2112 in it's entirety.  Perfect weather night in a great venue.

 

Worst

 

Late 90's Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater -  Took my nephew who really wanted to see them.  Greg Allman was lifeless like a block of wood.  Dicky Betts turned every song into a 15 minute pentatonic solo.  Couldn't wait for it to end.

 

1988 Jazz Explosion Super Band with Allan Holdsworth, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Bernard Purdie -  I was a big Holdsworth and general fusion freak.  Sold my Zappa tickets for that night to see this show somewhere in NYC.  The whole thing was a train wreck.  They trucked out Ronnie Montrose at the end of the night.  Again, just a big train wreck.

 

1988 Dregs (Ensoniq Tour), NYC - I was a bit young to catch the Dregs when they were active.  I had seen Steve Morse band a few times in the 80s and looking for that Dregs nostalgia fix.  It was in Webster Hall, which they were calling the Ritz in those days.  I just remember it being hot as hell, standing in front of the stage for what seemed like hours waiting for the show to start, sweating my balls off with my friends.  Yeah it was great seeing T. Lavitz up there with the rest of the band (no Andy West though) but the show was really underwhelming. Due to the circumstances just really wanted it all to end.

 

[Brad Kaenel]

1 hour ago, JohnH said:

Blockbuster the company is extinct, but the concert venue is the same as the Pond- re-badged and still open and holding concerts.  Kid Rock was just a week ago, Art Laboe featuring several R&B bands was two days ago.

 

https://www.facebook.com/GlenHelenAmphitheater/

Ha! Thanks for finding that older post -- I *thought* I'd written about it before...

 

Amazing that the Pavilion is still operating; probably owned by the San Manuel tribe, these days.  

[KuruPrionz]

13 minutes ago, Mills Dude said:

1988 Dregs (Ensoniq Tour), NYC - I was a bit young to catch the Dregs when they were active.  I had seen Steve Morse band a few times in the 80s and looking for that Dregs nostalgia fix.  It was in Webster Hall, which they were calling the Ritz in those days.  I just remember it being hot as hell, standing in front of the stage for what seemed like hours waiting for the show to start, sweating my balls off with my friends.  Yeah it was great seeing T. Lavitz up there with the rest of the band (no Andy West though) but the show was really underwhelming. Due to the circumstances just really wanted it all to end.

 

I saw both The Dixie Dregs and The Dregs, just a few months apart. They were on fire both times, among the best bands I've ever seen. Not disputing your story, just saying they did have it in them to excel. 

[Mills Dude]

1 minute ago, KuruPrionz said:

I saw both The Dixie Dregs and The Dregs, just a few months apart. They were on fire both times, among the best bands I've ever seen. Not disputing your story, just saying they did have it in them to excel. 

Dregs, Dixie Dregs, whatever you want to call them were one of my favorites.  But the circumstances of this particular incarnation were for promotional purposes and 10 years past their heyday.  Right at the juncture before Steve Morse hooked up with Deep Purple and he was considering giving it all up and just be a commercial pilot.   The preparation for this tour seemed a bit spotty.  I wish I had seen them back in their fire days.

 

The biggest problem I had that night was the heat and the fact that the show started 2 hours later then it was supposed to, along with the lackluster performance.  I had seen Steve with Jerry Peek and Rod Morganstein in small clubs a bunch of times and they were on fire.  This show, not so much.