Kendrix Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Here goes. Please chime in - no BS allowed. If the story aint 20 or so years old it dont belong here. Heres my favorite. 1969 or 70. The Doors were playng the Felt Forum (smaller venue that's part of the Madison Sq Garden complex- its now called something else) My most hippified of HS friends, whose father was connected to the advert bus. in NYC and always got us tickets, asked me to join. We were in row 13 as Morrison and the boys did their thing. The Chamber bros. opened up (By the way - listen to the live Seely Dan across america CD to hear how awesome Dennis Chambers -the drummer- still is.) As the Doors set was gettin on we noticed that the stage had a drape hanging over the front and that there was enough space to crawl underneath. We were in the first of two shows that night. As very clever teens we figured we'd slip under the stage & hang out till the second show started and join party #2. We made it under. I can still recall Morrison bouncing around and bending the stage floor directly over my head. We surrounded ouselves with equipment cases so as not to be seen. The show ended. We hung out for abourt 15 minutes then some roadie moved the instrument cases and discovered us with a flashlight. Oh Well. He showed us some side door an told us to get lost. Next thing you know we took a turn and ended up in the huge garden arena- lights mostly out - no one in it cept us. It was awesome. We took this in for a while then left for the LIRR and home. I still get buzzed when I recall this. Even tho the Doors weren't really a guitar band i thought this tale would make the grade with this crew. No BS Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Hmmm..I don't really have anything like that. I mean, I did work crowd security at a Seger concert once and met him backstage, but, that's about it. Most of my concerts have been pretty much "give 'em your ticket, go in, see the show, leave". "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 I could tell you one, but you probably wouldn't believe me. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott from MA Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Originally posted by Kendrix: If the story aint 20 or so years old it dont belong here. A concert had to be at least 20 years ago to be historical? Oh well... I guess none of my stories will work then. Scott (just another cantankerous bastard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Originally posted by Lee Flier: I could tell you one, but you probably wouldn't believe me. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Awww, heck Lee, we'd believe anything you say...you know us...go ahead. Inquiring minds wanna know... Did it have anything to do with John Bonham and a hot tub full of jello??? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Originally posted by Tedster: Hmmm..I don't really have anything like that. I mean, I did work crowd security at a Seger concert once and met him backstage, but, that's about it. Most of my concerts have been pretty much "give 'em your ticket, go in, see the show, leave". Oh yeah...did have a snowball fight with a Texas band called Point Blank once (big hit..."Nicole"). They were in town opening for Seger. We got tasked with showing them some of the good local clubs to hang at after the gig. Those guys hadn't seen snow for a long time, and it was snowing like crazy. A great snowball fight ensued. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 <> in penn station, outside madison square garden, a girl offered to give me a blowjob in exchange for my queen/thin lizzy ticket... sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision. -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAPetrarca Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 Had a friend who was the lead usher at the old Ocean State Theater. He'd make us wait, about 6 of us, in a back alley until the show started. Then he's open the door and let us in. At different times, we met ZZ Top, The James Gang, Jethro Tull, BB King, Iron Butterfly, Buffalo Springfield, Doobie Brothers and probably a few others I can't recall. Ah, the good old days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlChuck Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 The Chamber bros. opened up (By the way - listen to the live Seely Dan across america CD to hear how awesome Dennis Chambers -the drummer- still is.) Kendrix, what gave you the idea that Dennis Chambers the (great) drummer was one of the Chambers Brothers? From the All-Music Guide website: "The Chambers siblings bassist George, guitarist Willie, harpist Lester, and guitarist Joe, all of whom contributed vocals were born and raised in Lee County, MS..." No mention of a Dennis there. I looked at Dennis' discography there and his earliest recorded appearance is in 1979. I found a bit more about him at the Europe Jazz Network site http://www.ejn.it/index.htm: "Dennis Chambers started playing drums at the age of 4 and by the age of 6 he was playing in night clubs. Chambers had no former schooling in music. All his musical training came from playing in night clubs. At the age of 18 he went from High School to a band called Parliament and Funkadelic. He joined the band in 1978 and played until 1985." OK, if he joined PFunk when he was 18 in 1978, then he must have been born around 1960. Not sure if he was born in Philly or moved there later... He was playing clubs by the age of six, so I guess it's possible it was him you heard playing... but no mention of him being related to George, Willie, Lester, and Joe Chambers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrix Posted September 27, 2001 Author Share Posted September 27, 2001 AlChuck ooops. I must concede your point re: Dennis Chambers. I stand corrected. You know what they say about assumptions... Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_dup3 Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 I saw George Harrison's early 1970s tour.While waiting 2 nights in ticket line encountered several people defending their space with various weapons http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif (remember these were gentle George fans,or at least some were). At the show GH & Billy Preston did an extended high kick/can-can dance (can't remember which tune). As Harrison left through the off-stage tunnel, I tried to get his attention but only managed to hit him in the head with a crumpled paper cup...I've often wondered if this contributed to his decision to quit public performances. This message has been edited by d on 09-27-2001 at 02:46 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosmatt Posted September 27, 2001 Share Posted September 27, 2001 so what was the decision? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Originally posted by d gauss: <> in penn station, outside madison square garden, a girl offered to give me a blowjob in exchange for my queen/thin lizzy ticket... sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision. -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Originally posted by d gauss: <> in penn station, outside madison square garden, a girl offered to give me a blowjob in exchange for my queen/thin lizzy ticket... sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision. -d. gauss You ever wonder how she enjoyed the show? "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Originally posted by d: I saw George Harrison's early 1970s tour.While waiting 2 nights in ticket line encountered several people defending their space with various weapons http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif (remember these were gentle George fans,or at least some were). At the show GH & Billy Preston did an extended high kick/can-can dance (can't remember which tune). As Harrison left through the off-stage tunnel, I tried to get his attention but only managed to hit him in the head with a crumpled paper cup...I've often wondered if this contributed to his decision to quit public performances. This message has been edited by d on 09-27-2001 at 02:46 PM I saw Harrison in Detroit in 1974. I'm glad I did...especially regarding recent reports of his tenuous health... This message has been edited by Tedster on 09-27-2001 at 11:09 PM "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynx Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Originally posted by d gauss: <> in penn station, outside madison square garden, a girl offered to give me a blowjob in exchange for my queen/thin lizzy ticket... sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision. -d. gauss Had the same offer at the Rolling Stones concert in Chicago 1969. What do you think my answer(without hesitation) was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Originally posted by lynx: Had the same offer at the Rolling Stones concert in Chicago 1969. What do you think my answer(without hesitation) was? "Hope you enjoy the show, sweetheart..."??? "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 well... silly me, i WENT to the concert....OUCH! (being it was in penn station, and it was the 70's, i wasn't entirely sure she was a girl) -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Originally posted by Tedster: Awww, heck Lee, we'd believe anything you say...you know us...go ahead. Inquiring minds wanna know... Did it have anything to do with John Bonham and a hot tub full of jello??? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif ROFL!! No, unfortunately Mr. Bonham was dead just before I was legal. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Well OK, here goes... actually this story JUST now qualifies under Kendrix's rules because the date was September 22, 1981 - 20 years ago almost to the day! I was 18, and I snuck into a Rolling Stones rehearsal. I thought I was going to get kicked out after a few minutes, but Keith Richards actually told me I could stay and hang out! So I got to watch them all night long - about midnight to 6 am - on a very small stage. I was sitting 15 feet away from them and was practically the only person watching. 15 feet from Keith's amp! The energy emanating therefrom, was unbelievable! Not only that, but when the band took breaks, Keith kept coming over to the big fireplace which I was sitting next to, and putting more wood on it for me, and generally was really eager to talk guitars and be encouraging to this young fan. The perfect gentleman. Ditto Charlie Watts, who actually served me coffee. Talk about a dream come true! I think the best part of this whole experience was the lasting confidence it gave me in terms of how I wanted to run a band. The way the Stones worked seemed so right to me, and was so contrary to the way a lot of bands in L.A. worked. Most of them rehearsed as little as possible and just took the "professional" approach - ran through whatever songs they were going to do for their set, worked out whatever wasn't happening, and went home. The Stones were different. They spent the first 2-3 hours just jamming on some of their favorite tunes - old blues stuff that they used to play in the early days, etc. They also had their entire catalog of albums lying out on a table in the studio lounge, and they'd occasionally look through them: "Wow, we haven't done THIS in a while!" and just decide to pull out some obscure tune for fun. In fact, when I first walked in, Mick Jagger was sitting at Ian Stewart's grand piano and Keith was at Ian McLagan's electric piano, and they were doing the ballad "Memory Motel" from the Black and Blue album - which is one of my favorite songs and walking in to hear them singing those great sloppy Stones harmonies just made me cry! Anyhow, the point is even after all those years the Stones still had fun, and passion for what they do. Charlie had this habit of just sitting on the floor behind his drum kit where you couldn't see him, but as soon as any other member of the band started playing, Charlie's head would suddenly pop up and he'd be ready to jump in on the drums in an instant. With all their money and fame and all that, what got them where they are and kept them there is that they're just guys who really, really love music. And that really gave me the confidence to insist on the same from any band that I play with. I knew then that I never wanted to just "go through the motions" no matter how big or small the gig or rehearsal, and that attitude has stayed intact for the past 20 years. I'll always be thankful to the Stones for that lesson and for their wonderful hospitality. --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timrocker Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Re: the Stones encounter. Absolutely outstanding, Lee! Thank you so much for the shared inspiration! I needed to hear that-the cover band I'm in is in a slump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael saulnier Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 I went to college at the University of WI - Madison. They often had concerts on the campus, and many had superb performers. One in particular was the so-called super trio: Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, and Paco DeLucia. This was their first tour, I think 1980. They hadn't released an album or anything yet, but we had been listening to Mediterranean Sundance from Al's album and his solo's with Paco were mind blowing to us! The show was set to start at 7PM, but since I and my friends lived on campus, we decided to head over early to see if we could listen to the sound check. Sure enough when we showed up at 4PM there was NO SECURITY. The crew was just finishing the load in. So, we just walked in, sauntered up to the front row seats, and made ourselves at home. Within a few minutes Al DiMeola walked out on stage and to start his warm-up and sound check. Awesome. He adjusted his mic and levels, then he smiled at us and played a couple of amazing riffs in that DiMeola style... Amazing. We all had huge grins from ear to ear. Al plays for about 20 minutes total, then John comes out. He does the same thing... treats us to his warm-up and sound check along with some blazing guitar licks... more grins... Then Paco comes out... smiles at us... and does his warm-up and sound check stuff. Jaw dropping flamenco riffs... So now it's around 6PM... (there were breaks in between each guy), and finally SECURITY notices us. One walks up, and asks what we're doing there. We answer, "we've got tickets to the show", and pull them out to prove it. "OUT!" says the security guard... pointing to the door. We can see through the glass doors that now a long line has developed outside the door, so we complain... "hey, we were the first ones here, if we go out to the line now, we'll lose our great seats!" The security guy is un-impressed. He again points to the door and motions for us to get going... two other security guys, (all UW football players) show up for added support... Just when we're about to give in, Al DiMeola, (who must have heard what was happening from off the stage), comes over to the front of the stage, and suggests to the security, "why don't you let them put their coats on the seats so they can have the seats back when the doors open and they come back in?" The security guy agrees and we happily go out in the 30 degree weather outside, sans coats, for about 40 minutes until the doors open... a little cold, but knowing we're about to have front row seats... to one of the best concerts of our lives! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Thanks Al! BTW, it WAS an awesome show, all three guys were at the peak of their powers and they really seemed to enjoy trading licks and making the crowd gasp. I'll always remember it fondly, but nothing more than the fun of having Al, John, and Paco playing just for us in the sound check. guitplayer I'm still "guitplayer"! Check out my music if you like... http://www.michaelsaulnier.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrix Posted September 28, 2001 Author Share Posted September 28, 2001 LeeFlier, Thanks for sharing the inspirational Stones tale. I'm way jealous . My Stone's story involves the Thanksgiving day ( '69 or 70) show in the Garden. I beleive parts of this show appear in Gimme Shelter ( Jagger was wearing the black shirt with the gold omega symbol on it). In the movie they cut betweem this show and Altamont. Anyway, I was sitting directly across the aisle from Felix Cavalear. We spoke a bit and I got his autograph on the concert program. He was quite nice about it. In retrospect, he was a great pop songwriter. Several of his things stand up quite well. Good Lovin, Groovin, Beautiful Morning come to mind. Im still way jealous. Was Keith fully present? - how much whiskey & what not did they do? Ike & Tina, Terry Reid and someone else opened. Love in Vain is burned into my mind from that show. Keith is great on that Guild. Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrix Posted September 28, 2001 Author Share Posted September 28, 2001 LeeFlier, Thanks for sharing the inspirational Stones tale. I'm way jealous . My Stone's story involves the Thanksgiving day ( '69 or 70) show in the Garden. I beleive parts of this show appear in Gimme Shelter ( Jagger was wearing the black shirt with the gold omega symbol on it). In the movie they cut betweem this show and Altamont. Anyway, I was sitting directly across the aisle from Felix Cavalear. We spoke a bit and I got his autograph on the concert program. He was quite nice about it. In retrospect, he was a great pop songwriter. Several of his things stand up quite well. Good Lovin, Groovin, Beautiful Morning come to mind. Im still way jealous. Was Keith fully present? - how much whiskey & what not did they do? Ike & Tina, Terry Reid and someone else opened. Love in Vain is burned into my mind from that show. Keith is great on that Guild. Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Cool story Guit...! Lee...lemme guess, you were wearing a blue gingham dress and red shoes, and Wyman, Watts, and Richards were dressed up as the tin man, cowardly lion, and scarecrow...oh yeah...Jagger would have been the wicked witch? Just kidding. I believe you. Cool story! "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrix Posted September 28, 2001 Author Share Posted September 28, 2001 Any Hendrix experiences out there? I attended three shows in the NYC area. Randall's Island Festival set was the best musically by far. Red House was just searing hot. However, the most interesting set was at a peace concert at the Garden. Several acts played 3-4 song sets. Jimi was the finale. He was not himself that night to say the least. He was psychedelicised to the point that he was completely unable to play. He started up Foxy Lady , mumbled some rude comments at one of the lady fans and then gave up. Seems sad to think about it given his ultimate fate. Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 Originally posted by Kendrix: LeeFlier, Thanks for sharing the inspirational Stones tale. I'm way jealous . My Stone's story involves the Thanksgiving day ( '69 or 70) show in the Garden. I beleive parts of this show appear in Gimme Shelter ( Jagger was wearing the black shirt with the gold omega symbol on it). In the movie they cut betweem this show and Altamont. Ooooh, now I'M way jealous. I'd have given anything to have seen the Stones on that '69 tour! But, alas, I was only 6 years old. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif Have you seen the DVD of Gimme Shelter that has the extra footage? Awesome! Im still way jealous. Was Keith fully present? - how much whiskey & what not did they do? Well... I think Ron Wood had a pretty horrendous cocaine problem and he kept disappearing, as did Jagger, to parts unknown where I presume he or both of them were partaking. If Keith was doing any I couldn't tell, he didn't leave the studio that I remember. That was one reason I got so much opportunity to talk to him: Jagger and Wood kept disappearing and Keith would just hang out and talk to me and/or Charlie. He did, indeed, nurse a tumbler of Jack Daniel's all night but he did not seem intoxicated at all. He was very much fully present, in fact, if there'd been any wonderment on my part about how he'd survived all his, errrhh, chemistry experiments, the question was answered when I looked in his eyes. I was very much looking at and talking to a guy who was totally alive and had a reason to live. He was totally articulate and attentive. The whole scene, in fact, was pretty low key and down to earth. As for Bill and Charlie, they weren't even drinking. In fact, the reason I ended up being served coffee by Charlie is that Keith asked me early on if I wanted anything to drink, and I asked if there was any coffee, and that was when Charlie's eyes lit up - a fellow non-drinker! "COFFEE, yeah!" he said, "I've just made a fresh pot, just now! Come on down and I'll pour you some!" And he did. There was very little rock-star BS going on, just music and lots of laughs. --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrix Posted September 29, 2001 Author Share Posted September 29, 2001 Lee, No I have not seen the DVD version of Gimme shelter with the extra footage. I dont actually own a DVD player. I seem to spend all my spare cash on recording gear. Check out some tunes here: http://www.garageband.com/artist/KenFava Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Wing Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 This goes back to the spring of 1975. I was in college at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Led Zeppelin was playing at Tampa Stadium, which was a few hours away (maybe 2, maybe 3 - too long ago). My two motorcycle riding buddies had tickets to the concert, and they asked if I wanted to go and try to get a ticket at the stadium. When we got to the stadium it was only about 15 minutes before the concert was to begin. There were very, very few people selling/scalping tickets. One guy asked $10 for an $8 ticket. I offered $5, he said no, then asked for $8. I said no, the concert was starting in a few minutes, and he would be stuck with a ticket. He said $8, so I offered $6. My two friends started yelling and screaming and hitting me (literally), so I gave the guy $8. We wound up sitting in the middle of the football field at the 50 yard line. Great concert, but I truly don't remember any details. There are two theories about arguing with a woman. Neither one works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_dup3 Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 This thread is still going so here's another story: 1975 Weather Report in Gainesville, FL. Of course the whole show was great but two memorable moments were Zawinul showing Wayne Shorter a keyboard part to play while Joe soloed over it & Alphonso Johnson acually balancing himself on his bank of footpedals leaning first one way then another & ever-so-gently raising one foot to step onto another pedal----what technique ! I'll save my PFunk stories 'til another time (other than to mention the show in San Antonio ---1982 or so--- where the entire band Zapp mooned the crowd http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/eek.gif ----& promptly got themselves arrested ! Sidenote to Tedster--- that Detroit show at the Olympia hockey rink was the very show I saw---remember the wait while the band "flew in from Chicago" ? This message has been edited by d on 09-30-2001 at 02:42 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Turner Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 Got a few.... Beatles at Shay Stadium....when you could hear them over the screaming teenyboppers, they were awesome. Cream at their first US gig at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York, sitting in the third row.....un-frigging-believable! Zappa and the Mothers doing their long stretch of gigs at the Garrick Theatre in the Village in 1967. Mixing front of house for the 'Dead at Winterland on New Year's Eve of 1972..... Playing Symphony Hall in Boston with Ian and Sylvia with Felix Pappalardi on bass. Seeing Dylan "go electric" at Newport in '65...from the 3rd row. Much of the legend of mass booing is just bullshit. Most people were blown away. Seeing Bill Monroe with Peter Rowan, Bill (Brad) Keith, and Richard Green at the Club 47 in Cambridge in '65. That was Monroe's endorsement of intellectual northern boys playing authentic Bluegrass....a pivotal moment. Mixing Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan in Golden Gate Park in 1970.... Seeing Dylan's first gig after the motorcycle accident playing with the Band. Robertson playing a tiny Stella acoustic with a DeArmond. Incredible! Mixing FOH with Stoneground, Mott the Hoople, Rod Stewart & the Faces, and Pink Floyd (working with their guy with a full quad sound system) all in one day/evening on an estate in England in 1970. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 >>>Sidenote to Tedster--- that Detroit show at the Olympia hockey rink was the very show I saw---remember the wait while the band "flew in from Chicago" ? I was there. Way up in the nosebleed section. Olympia was a scary place, the steps up to the nosebleeds were at a really steep angle, and with all the beer spilled all over the floor it was really easy to find yourself sledding down those stairs on your ass...YUCK... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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