@tablejockey , I was wondering if anyone would go way back in time to catch some of all time great classical composers. So, congrats on being the first! (bravest?) |
@Only waytoomuchstuff, great story about the Texas International Pop Festival. I know there are bootlegs of some of those sets floating around, because a friend of mine has a copy of Santana's set. I remember the sound quality being surprisingly good for a 1969 recording; but, the only downside was their set only around 35 - 40 minutes. |
@Ihasaguy, I caught the Beck - Bogart & Appice tour in 1973. That one was special. |
@Eonsx311, I attended the 5/23/94 Pulse show in Atlanta, which was indeed great. It is one of the far too few DVD's that I have that came from the same tour or the exact show I attended.....but, I also saw Pink Floyd on 6 - 23 - 73 in Detroit on the "DSOTM" tour. If I had to chose one, I'd probably have to go with the 73 show, because I remember far less of that show. |
The two shows that I regret missing that I actually could've seen were: 1) Genesis on their last US tour with Peter Gabriel in 1974 (a friend of mine got sick) 2) Renaissance in 75 or 76 (this time, I got sick). To make matters worse, Spirit was the opening act.....ARRGHH!!!
@roxy54 , I know what you're talking about when there's that rare spiritual connection at a concert. For me, that was the Blue Nile in 1990. They played every song from from their first two albums and it was magical from start to finish. Then they ran out of material. The audience refused to let them leave; so, they played a few more songs a second time. Cameras were there filming it, but it was never released. I ran into Paul Buchanan at the 2005 SXSW music festival and he said he never heard why that show or any other show from that tour didn't get released on video. To top it off, the opening act was Wendy MaHarry who was also excellent. She only released two proper albums + a live album with demos from her never released third album. So, I consider my self lucky that I got to see her. I would have no qualms at all going back in time to see that show again! |
@laxiotakis, I agree that if I could only pick one music festival to go back in time to see, it would have to be the Monterrey Pop Festival. But, the Atlanta Pop Festival (aka Byron Pop Festival) would be a close second. Either way, you would have seen Jimi Hendrix. I have multiple friends who lived in Georgia at that time who could not go because they were too young to drive, and their parents wouldn't let them go. |
@artemus_5, I forgot about a couple of good ZZ Top stories:
1) At the 2003 SXSW Music Festival, I attended a Yardbirds show at The Austin Music Hall. I sat in the balcony, and a short time later Billy Gibbons sat down beside me. He was accompanied by two gorgeous women wearing tuxedos. It was hard to tell if they were "friends" or "bodyguards" (they were acting very serious). The Yardbirds show featured multiple special guest guitarists, including: Skunk Baxter, Joe Satriani, Slash & Steve Vai. I asked Billy if he would be participating and he said "no, I wasn't asked." I laughed and said that if he showed up backstage, I'm sure he would get an instant invitation.
Ironically, the following year this venue limited their balcony to VIP's only. Even funnier, I told a friend of mine and her friend the whole story. What I didn't know was the friend of the friend had dated Skunk back in the day, and he didn't let her know that he was in town for this gig. She was not pleased about this......Oops, sorry Skunk!
2) My 5th concert was ZZ Top in the fall of 1973. "Tres Hombres" had not taken off yet and they were getting zero airplay in Atlanta at that time. A high school friend had spent the summer in Texas and he came back raving about the band; so, when the gig was scheduled he convinced a bunch of us to go. Tickets were only $5.00, so we figured we had nothing to lose. ZZ Top played their @sses off. While the crowd was small, they were beyond enthusiastic. Everyone was dancing (nobody sitting down) and I recall copious amounts of ganja being passed around. We had a great time and were suitably impressed. |
I have a friend who grew up in Detroit. He's about 10 years older than me, so he has regaled me with stories about some of the concerts that he saw at the legendary Grande Ballroom. I decided to do so research, and here are some of the shows that he either attended or could've seen:
10/14/67: Cream, MC5 and The Rationals
3/22/68: Eric Burdon & The Animals, Grateful Dead & Aere Apparent
3/29/68: The Fugs, Sly and The Family Stone & MC5.
4/28/68: Mothers of Invention &The Psychedelic Stooges
6/1/68: Love, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown &
Psychedelic Stooges
6/9/68: Cream, James Gang & The Thyme
7/13/68: The Who, Pink Floyd & The Psychedelic Stooges
7/19/68: Spirit, Fever Tree & The Soul Remains
11/24/68: Jefferson Airplane & Terry Reid
12/13/68: Deep Purple & Lee Michaels
12/27/68: Fleetwood Mac & Rotary Connection
1/12/69: Genesis & James Gang
2/1/69: Spirit, Jethro Tull & Sweet Wine
2/21/69: Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Van Morrison & The Attack
3/2/69: MC5, Three Dog Night & James Gang
4/11/69: The Velvet Underground, The Nice & Earth Opera
4/18/69: Chuck Berry, Brian Auger + The Trinity & Rare Earth
5/11/69: The Who, Joe Cocker + The Grease Band & Rush
This one is notable because it was the US debut performance of "Tommy." The Who's former road manager had taken a job at the Grande, and they wanted him to hear the first performance here in the states.
5/16/69: Led Zeppelin, Sun Ra & Golden Earring
11/7/69: The Kinks & Elton John
So, if any of this has gotten you the least bit intrigued, I suggest you check out either the documentary DVD "Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story" or the book "The Grande Ballroom - Detroit's Rock Palace." Both are currently available on Amazon for $18 & $22 respectively.
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@artemus_5, it's funny you mention Crack The Sky. They are an all time favorite of mine. Also, they were the last concert that I saw before the Covid lockdown. I flew to Baltimore to catch an acoustic show that included a 4 piece string section. It was fantastic; and, they were cameras filming it. The band said it would be released on their website; but, it has yet to become available. I'm guessing there were some kind of technical difficulties that has prevented its release. I suppose having a DVD of that show would be the next best thing to going back in time to see it again. |
@cheeg, that is a great story! I saw Santana and Clapton together in the summer of 1977. They took turns being the opening act and the headliner, so they were very competitive. The show ended with both bands on stage together for a 20+ minute jam session. To this day, I've never seen anything comparable.
But, my most memorable concert story involves Clapton's 461 Ocean Blvd tour in 1974. The show started normally enough with an acoustic set by Clapton and his backing band. After that ended, Pete Townsend walked out and played an unaccompanied version of "Pinball Wizard" on electric guitar. Everyone was looking around wondering if they were tripping or if somebody had spiked their drink. Pete did not return until the final encore ("Layla"). Clapton reappears with his band and starts his electric set. I'm sitting in the upper level near the back row as far as you can get from the stage. Halfway thru the 2nd song, I complain to my friend that I "can't hear the drummer." The guy sitting in front of me laughs and hands me a pair of binoculars. The first thing I see is two of Clapton's roadies hoisting Keith Moon back onto the drum stool. I watched him play for 30 seconds and then fall off again. Now I start laughing and my friend is looking perplexed. I hand him the binoculars and say "this will explain everything!" |
For the sake of clarity,you can list anything you want ("no limits"); it doesn't matter if you missed it the first time around or if you would want to revisit a great show that you did attend.
I'm not surprised by the amount of mentions for the Allman Brothers; but, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Humble Pie performances at The Fillmore East that became: "Performance: Rockin' At The Fillmore" live album. But, as tempting as that show would be for me, I think I'd go back a year earlier when they were a little hungrier and most importantly still doing both an acoustic & electric set(s).
If you are a fan of the acoustic era Humble Pie, I urge you to seek out an 8 minute live clip from German TV of Humble Pie (YouTube) doing an acoustic cover version of "For Your Love" (Yardbirds). It is fantastic; and, it will surely remind you of how great a singer Steve Marriott was! |
Badfinger - 1972 tour for "Straight Up"
Jeff Buckley - anytime & anyplace
Michael Hedges -
anytime & anyplace
Rickie Lee Jones:- 79, backed by Neil Larsen & Buzzy Feiten
Prefab Sprout -
anytime & anyplace
The Who - 1973 tour for "Quadrophenia"
Wishbone Ash -
1972 tour for "Argus"
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@kingbr, great point about catching a band early in their career, before they go mainstream and sell out (assuming they even get that opportunity). Not to mention having to deal with the trendster - wannabe, "Johnny come lately" fans that show up once the band becomes mainstream. |
@sgreg1, you make two good points:
1) "SRV, so I could tell him not to get on the helicopter!"
Now that's the kind of creative response that I've been looking for in this thread!!
2) "I was there...but, I didn't have the opportunity to remember the music."
The first time I wrote down a setlist was on Springsteen's "The River" tour in 1980. I knew that he would play for 3 1/2 - 4 hours, so I figured that was the best way I could remember the show.
A few years ago, I discovered the website: "SETLIST.FM." This is a very helpful site, as I have found setlist's posted from shows that I saw all the way back to the 1970's! |
Traffic from 1967 - 1973. I'd want to see the original lineup with Dave Mason, the modified original lineup for "Welcome To The Canteen" (with Jim Gordon & Ric Gretch), the "John Barleycorn" lineup and the lineup with the Muscle Shoals boys that did "Low Spark" & "Shootout At the Fantasy Factory."
Also, nice to see a so many mentions for Mick Taylor! |
@milkkefir, good choice with Joni Mitchell's 79 tour with Jaco & Metheny. Her 74 tour for "Miles of Aisles" with Tom Scott & The LA Express (Robben Ford on guitar) would also be a good choice. |
@boothroyd, good choice with Stephen Bruton. I wish I would've caught Gary Clark, Jr in the local clubs when I had the chance. I heard about The Shady Grove and Threadgills closing down. Man, it looks like the world is probably gonna be a boring place when things get back to normal. |
@crimsoniter, I've seen almost 500 concerts (am about a dozen short); but, "almost a thousand concerts," now that is impressive! |
