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therecordchanger62279 · 5 months ago

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BEEN THERE, SAW THEM

For somebody that spent most of his working life in the retail record business, and whose passion has always been music, I was never an avid concert-goer. I never liked the long drives to and from. I hated shows where I had a seat but was forced to stand all evening because everyone else did. I hated the excess smoke - when that was still permitted. I often seemed to get seats behind someone who stood all evening, or was a head taller than me when seated. The volume was a problem, too as I suffered some hearing loss at a Springsteen concert in 1978, via some Steve Van Zandt guitar feedback that was actually painful, and caused me to cover my ears. I was in the last row of Vets Arena in Columbus, Ohio. If I'd been front row, I'd probably be deaf now. I hated the exits after the concerts, too. It took more time to leave the Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio after The Rolling Stones show I saw there in 1989 than it did to watch the show.

My aversion to concerts became legendary, and I used to get needled all the time about it by the people I worked with at record shops. Eventually, I got tired of it, and lied about attending shows I never saw (a Joe Henderson show at a high school auditorium in Lima, Ohio, and a Neil Young show with Sonic Youth opening on the Ragged Glory tour - in Cincinnati, if memory serves). I saw my last live show in 2014. I wouldn't even remember that date except that I had a notion of trying to compile a master list of every concert I've seen since my first one in August of 1975. By my count, and to the best of my recollection, I saw more than 40 concerts over a 39 year span. That's one concert a year. And given that I grew up in a small town where nobody ever played, and never lived anywhere bigger than Toledo or Dayton, Ohio, I don't think that's too bad.

I could've been to many, many more. For years I had access to free concert tickets through my record retailing connections, but since the people who worked for me made less money, and were more into live shows than I was, I used up my favors to score tickets for them when I could. I was content to buy live albums, and experience the shows from the comfort of my recliner.

In any case, I've compiled the complete list - at least everything I can remember - including the opening act(s) if there were any. If there was something worth noting about the show, I've made comments after the entry.

Beach Boys / Ambrosia. 8/21/75 Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio. My first concert. We had floor tickets, so I stood the entire time. Great sets from both bands, but this was still before Brian Wilson had rejoined for live shows. That was my only real disappointment.

Buddy Rich Orchestra. Lima Senior High Auditorium, Lima, Ohio 1977. I went with my mother. I was still living at home, going to college, and just beginning to really explore Jazz. I knew Rich from The Tonight Show. It was a terrific experience.

Bruce Springsteen. Vets, Columbus, Ohio 9/5/78. The night of the hearing loss. But it's still one of the three or four best shows I ever saw. I also saw him in Cincinnati, Ohio at Riverfront Coliseum in July '84 on the Born In The U.S.A. tour. Still great, but not on a level with that '78 show.

Bob Dylan. Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio 10/22/78. Also Riverbend Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio 8/10/89, Hara Arena 11/2/2002, and Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio 8/5/11. The '78 show was mindblowing. The '89 show was one of those nights when the sound was bad, and you couldn't recognize the songs unless you happened to catch a familiar lyric. Awful. The last two were quite good, though.

Elvis Costello / The Rubinoos. The Agora, Columbus, Ohio 3/15/79. The Rubinoos were great. Costello wasn't. He played all of 45 minutes. Left without ever saying a word to the audience. No encore - not that anyone minded. Later that night, he and his band got into an altercation with Stephen Stills and his band at a Holiday Inn Bar in Columbus that made national headlines when Costello uttered a racial slur at Ray Charles. I was a huge Costello fan before the show, but after - not so much. I swore I'd never see him live again, and I never did.

Crosby, Stills & Nash. Toledo, Ohio 11/9/82. I was nervous about this one because I knew they had a reputation for sometimes being awful in concert. We got lucky. They were incredible. They were so good that Nash even made a comment about it from the stage. One of the best live performances I've ever seen.

Weather Report. Ann Arbor, Michigan 1983. Some other managers at the mall where I worked in Toledo took me to this. I loved the band, and I've been forever grateful to them for inviting me.

Yes. Indianapolis, 4/12/84. I went with some people I worked with. I drove. This was the 90125 tour. The show was fantastic. But one of my pals knew the band. She co-published the Relayer fanzine, and had actually interviewed band members. She took us to the backstage area afterwards promising to get us in to meet the band. But the bouncers gave her, and another female co-worker access, but denied me, and two of my male friends. We were waiting around for them to come out when some bouncers approached us, and told us to leave. We told them our friends were inside, but they couldn't have cared less, and threatened to remove us bodily if we didn't leave. So, we went to the car where we sat for more than two hours waiting for our pals to return. When they finally did, they breathlessly told us they'd been invited to join them at a party at the hotel. They claimed again that they would get us in. But I was skeptical for obvious reasons. Besides, it was now past 1 a.m., and we still had a 90 minute drive home, and I was opening the store in the morning. We argued for probably 20 minutes, and put it to a vote. It was two in favor, and two against, and one abstention. But it was my car. So we left. I was very unpopular for a long time after that (actually, I've never been very popular anyway), but given the same circumstances at another time, I'd have done the same thing. Fortunately the Yes show I saw at Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio 5/4/91 was a better show, and a far better experience.

Pat Metheny Group. Memorial Hall, Dayton, Ohio 7/18/85. Ohio Theatre, Columbus Ohio 11/22/87. One of only a few acts I've seen more than once. Fantastic - both shows.

Stevie Ray Vaughan / Johnny Copeland. Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio 1985. Incredible show.

Pretenders / Iggy Pop. Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio 3/24/87. Great show all around.

Billy Idol / The Cult. Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio 4/21/87. I could only score one ticket to see this show. I only wanted to see The Cult, and one of my co-workers was dying to see Billy Idol. He was closing the store that night just up the street from the venue. Since The Cult opened, I went to see them, and during intermission, I went back to the store, gave my ticket stub to my buddy, closed the store for him, and told him to go to the venue, and pretend he'd gone outside during intermission for a smoke. He presented my stub, and got in to see Billy idol. Win win!

Heart. Riverbend Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio 7/87. Courtesy a Capitol Records rep, and it included a ride in a Steamboat down the Ohio river to the venue. Heart was great!

R.E.M. / 10,000 Maniacs. Vets, Columbus, Ohio 10/24/87. Really fine show. I went with a co-worker and her boyfriend. He drove, and had one hand on the wheel, and with the other changed the radio stations constantly all the way there and back. He was wound far too tight for my liking.

Pink Floyd. Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio 5/28/88. History says this was the first ever concert at the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes. What I remember was the spectacle itself. It was the first big budget production I'd ever seen, and it was something extraordinary.

Dio / Megadeth / Savatage. Hara Arena 8/2/88. I was dragged kicking and screaming to this show. I liked Dio's records, but I had no desire to see him or the openers at all. But I gave in. Savatage and Megadeth were so loud, I stayed in the lobby and girl-watched. Dio, I'll admit was really great.

The Rolling Stones. Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio 9/14/89. The Steel Wheels Tour. My only Stones show, but it was incredible. I watched Charlie most of the night, and Ronnie played his ass off.

Tina Turner. Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio 8/25/90. She was everything you'd expect of a living legend.

Gordon Lightfoot. Memorial Hall, Dayton, Ohio 4/91. Lightfoot and his band were terrific, but we had balcony seats, and the chairs were the smallest, hardest, and most uncomfortable I've ever experienced. I remember getting up three or four times during the show, and standing in the aisle to alleviate the discomfort.

Don Henley / Susanna Hoffs. Riverbend Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio. 7/23/91. The Columbia rep knew what a huge Hoffs fan I was, so he provided the ticket. We had a meet and greet with Hoffs after, and I got autographs, and a picture someone else took for me that I never received. Hoffs killed, and Henley was good, too.

Neil Young. Nutter Center, Fairborn, Ohio 9/11/92. Completely solo show, and a great one from start to finish.

Roseanne Cash / Lyle Lovett. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio 1994 (I believe). Couldn't track down the exact date for this, or find my ticket stub. But I recall it was when Lovett was having a romance, and short marriage to Julia Roberts, and he was in the news so much he'd decided to have some fun with it. So he had a roadie put a wig and a dress on to introduce him each night. When the roadie walked out, he was indeed mistaken for Julia Roberts. The gasps, and whispers were quickly drowned out by laughter when we realized the ruse. Great night all around.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio 8/30/95. A dream come true for me. They were great. It was the only time I got to see them.

James Taylor. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio 7/9/97. Another artist who lived up to his legend.

Guided By Voices. Gilly's, Dayton, Ohio 1/99. There was GBV fever at the shop I worked in at the time. I thought the show was good musically, but Bob Pollard's constant beer swilling throughout the set got on my nerves after awhile, and my wife was none too fond of that performance either. We left early, and I never again listened much to them. In fact, a couple of years later, I sold all my albums, and 45s of the band to a shop, and kept only a couple of homemade cassettes.

Black Sabbath / Pantera / The Deftones. Nutter Center, Fairborn, Ohio. 2/99. There's an account of this rather memorable night on this very blog under the title Me and Dime (May '23). I even submitted an account of the show to Record Collector for their 'Memorable Concert' feature from fans that runs in their letters section. They never responded to the submission, and to date, have never published it. That's why I have a blog.

B.B. King / Boz Scaggs / Bobby "Blue" Bland. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio, 6/19/99. Three legends for one price. Great, great night.

Emmylou Harris / Shawn Colvin. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio 8/25/01. We sat outside in a torrential downpour all evening. But Emmylou and Shawn were so good, we didn't care.

Black Crowes / Beachwood Sparks. Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio 10/10/01. Just a month after 9/11 which Chris Robinson referenced from the stage. Very good night, and seeing Beachwood Sparks was a bonus for me. I was one of the few in the crowd who knew them, and had their record at the time.

Sheryl Crow. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio 7/03. I had wanted to see this, but it sold out so fast I couldn't get a ticket - until a customer walked into the shop that afternoon and offered the ticket to any of us who wanted to go. I snatched it up, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you want to see it, too, the entire thing was filmed, and released on a DVD titled C'mon America.

Leon Russell. Gilly's, Dayton, Ohio 1/3/2004. Leon completely solo at a bank of keyboards in a small club. Much as I'd liked to have seen him with his big band in the 1970s during his heyday, there was some magic on this night that I'll never forget.

Rock 'N' Blues Fest with Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, and Kim Simonds of Savoy Brown. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio. 2012. My disappointment at hearing that the great Leslie West had to drop out due to health issues at the last minute was somewhat mitigated by the opportunity to see the others. I'd been a fan of each since the 1970s. Edgar stole the show. But it was poignant seeing Johnny since he passed away less than 2 years later. And Rick and Kim still had it all these years later.

Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, Ohio. 7/14. To date, this was my last concert, and I don't expect there will be any more - unless someone wants to provide a free ticket and transportation to see Yuja Wang, or Taylor Swift somewhere. I'd leave the recliner to see either. Everyone else has passed away or retired, or isn't worth seeing at this late date. So, after 40 years, I finally saw a Beatle live, and the bonus for me was also finally getting to see another legend - Todd Rundgren. Ringo does not disappoint. A good one to go out on.

Appendix (courtesy my wife): When you're married, sometimes you make sacrifices. My wife wanted to see Neil Diamond at Nutter center in Fairborn in November of 2001. I accompanied her because I'll confess an affection for his early hits - several of which he played, and played well. My wife also wanted to see John Tesh - twice. We went - twice. It was sometime in the 90s. I wasn't a fan of his music, but the shows were professional, and the crowd, and my wife very much enjoyed them. And, finally, she wanted me to take her to see Josh Groban, again at The Fraze in Kettering, Ohio. The date is foggy, but it was sometime between 2005 and 2010. And though I am not a fan of his music, the show was impressive, and there's no denying he has one of the great voices in recent pop history. He's also a very engaging, and likable sort who is great with audiences.

Appendix II (courtesy my wife): She also tells me I bought tickets and took her to a Jim Brickman concert (New Age pianist who recorded for the Windham Hill label) at Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio some time in the early 90s. I have almost no recollection of any of it, although it seems like something I would've done, and I do remember she had a couple of his CDs.

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