100 Concerts / Concert #14

Headline Act: U2
Touring Album: The Joshua Tree

Opening Act: Buckwheat Zydeco, Los Lobos

Date: December 5, 1987 
Venue: Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL
Ticket price: $18.50

I went on my first date with U2 in '83. Things got a hot and heavy on our second date in '85.  By the time our third date rolled around in '87, it was time to consummate. We've been in a long-term relationship ever since.

For the third show in a row, I experienced a stadium concert. For the second consecutive occasion it was in Tampa Stadium. But was this just another concert? Hell no.

In 1988, the U2 film and album each called "Rattle And Hum" attempted to capture the band's breakout 1987 American tour in support of their landmark album, "The Joshua Tree". U2 made the difficult leap from up-and-comer to mega-stardom. Cover of "Time", anyone? "The Joshua Tree" yielded a smash single ("With Or Without You") and several more hits that cemented the band's standing as major-league rock stars. Beyond the radio hits, the album was deep in quality songs, one of my personal favorites is "Running To Stand Still". From "Where The Streets Have No Name" to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" to "Bullet The Blue Sky", U2 stirred up spirituality, politics, and passion in a blend that put them in the company of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the like.

I road-tripped to Tampa with my friend and fraternity brother Mark (the same guy who helped me become a radio DJ). We arrived early, hung out his twin sisters' apartment on the USF campus, watched a little of the Army-Navy game, then headed over to Tampa Stadium for an incredible evening.

Patches O'Houlihan

Our tickets were General Admission, which gave us free reign of the tarp-covered football field. We arrived early and sat in a wide-open area, roughly 40 yards from the stage.  As the crowd filled in, the anxiousness and the alcohol began to influence the energy of the stadium. It's the only concert experience in my life where I had to escape an "Animal House" inspired food fight. People just needed to kill time, I guess.Cups of soda and beer flew through the air. Half-eaten hot dogs, open mustard packets, baskets of french fries, buckets of pop corn, they were all all fair game. Long before I knew of "Dodgeball" legend Patches O'Houlihan, we managed to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge the flying food.

Buckwheat Zydeco. Where's Alfalfa?

Los Lobos: Hungry like the wolves.

The legendary Cajun band Buckwheat Zydeco opened the concert as the stadium filled and we were forced to stand. They were an unusual choice, but they helped create a party atmosphere. Next up was Los Lobos, at the time best known for their Richie Valens cover,"La Bamba", from the movie of the same name. They delivered a solid set and have gone on to have a very successful under-the-mainstream-radar career, releasing close to 20 albums from 1976-2010.

The anticipation for U2 was building. As the sun set, thousands of us on stadium floor were packed in like sardines, but not quite as oily. After an hour or so, U2 was ready to take the stage. The stadium lights went out. The crowd screamed as one. The opening notes of "Where The Streets Have No Name" filled the cold December air. And then, a moment I will never forget.

Thousands of fans on the stadium floor surged toward the stage in a chaotic, collective effort to get closer to the band. The power of the crowd's surge was so strong that my feet (and Mark's) left the ground. We were swept away with the tide of humanity. We were carried 10 to 15 yards toward the stage before being unceremoniously dropped back on to the tarp. Fortunately, there was no room to fall, we landed on our feet. It was a feeling of utter helplessness and to be honest, fear.  But there was no time to panic, it happened too quickly. As the excitement passed of U2 taking the stage, I soon thought of the tragic Cincinnati incident in 1979 when 11 fans were killed and dozens injured before a concert by The Who. The circumstances were different, but it was festival seating that led to the Cincinnati tragedy. I could now relate to the odd, frightening sensation of losing control of my body in the throngs of concertgoers. Scary stuff. The Who performed that night, unaware of the tragic events prior the show. When they learned the news after the concert, Pete Townshend and the band were devastated.

The fortunate part of this far-less-tragic moment was that we were now pretty close to the stage, at least for a stadium show.  Bono was decked out in a vest and a cowboy hat while The Edge donned a western-style brimmed hat. The Irishmen were soaking up America and we did the same with their music. The next couple hours were a blur, like an incredible night of passion.Afterward, you can't remember all the details but you just knew every moment felt exactly right.

One of the lasting, eery memories of this fantastic show was a combination of the crowd and the weather. It was an unusually cold Florida night, with temperatures in the low '40s.  Despite the near-frigid air, I saw steam rising off the heads of the fans at the front of the crowd.  The combined body heat of the crowd created a cloud of steam in the cool air. For those unfortunate folks in front of the stage, the force of the crowd pushed them into unmovable barricades with nowhere to go. The crowd's warmth and the push of the masses led to many of fans being pulled over the barricades by security people in order to get medical attention.  I was truly scared for those fans. My earlier feelings of fear and helplessness lasted only 10 to 15 seconds. These folks had to endure an hour or more of getting squished into a barricade with little relief. Front row seats aren't all they're cracked up to be.

If you've seen "Rattle And Hum", you can sense what it was like to see U2 on "The Joshua Tree" tour. But no recording or concert film can ever approach the intangible energy and experience of a U2 concert with 60,000 people. Their music is large enough to fill a cavernous football stadium, but Bono's charisma and stage presence transform a massive, chaotic concert to a collective experience that feels intimate, one that resonates long after the last note is played. Without question, this was one of the most memorable and satisfying concerts of my life. I think the Earth moved.

Not long after this concert, Mark was in a New York City art museum. By sheer luck, he spotted Bono walking around. Mark approached Bono and wanted to tell him how much he enjoyed the U2 concert in Tampa. Not wanting to draw attention from other folks, Bono put his index finger to his own mouth, "Shhh", he told Mark. "Please."

Bono walked away, walked away, walked away, walked away.

Mark did not follow.

Setlist: Where The Streets Have No Name, I Will Follow, Trip Through Your Wires, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looing For / Exodus (snippet), One Tree Hill, Gloria, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Exit / Riders On The Storm (snippet) / Gloria (Van Morrison snippet), In God's Country, People Get Ready, Bad / Ruby Tuesday (snippet) / Sympathy For The Devil (snippet), October, New Year's Day, Pride (In The Name Of Love) Encore: Bullet The Sky, Running To Stand Still, With Or Without You / Shine Like Stars (snippet) / Love Will Tear Us Apart (snippet), We'll Meet Again (snippet) / Spanish Eyes, 40 / Do They Know It's Christmas (snippet)

100 Concerts / Concert #13

Headline Act: Pink Floyd

Touring Album: A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Opening Act: none

Date: October 30, 1987

Venue: Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL
Ticket price:  $20.00

Just 8 days after a disappointing concert from The Cars, I was eager to leave that memory in my rear-view mirror. It was time for a major palette cleansing. Along with 4 of my fraternity brothers, we packed into one small car and made the 2-hour road trip to Tampa Stadium to see the legendary Pink Floyd.  In a previous post I wrote about the disappointing Genesis show. Phil Collins just didn't have the presence to fill a football stadium. The Floyd didn't need a Freddie Mercury-type frontman to charm the crowd. Stocked with an historic catalog , their larger-than-life music was enough to mesmerize the masses.

As I detailed in my Roger Waters 1985 concert post, 1987 marked the first foray for Pink Floyd without their original member, chief songwriter and bassist (aka Pink). The band was now composed of guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason. Original keyboardist Rick Wright was now considered a hired hand, no longer an official member of the group. Gilmour was now filling the shoes of chief songwriter and lead singer and he did so quite well. Together with a host of session musicians, Floyd recorded "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" a solid, well-received album, featuring "Learning To Fly" and the beautiful "On The Turning Away". While "Lapse" doesn't compare with Floyd's legendary albums, it contains many of the spacy, beautiful, haunting sounds that defined the band's style in the post-Syd Barrett era. Waters, now a solo artist, was not complementary of his former mates' new music. He even fought them in the courts to prevent them from using the Pink Floyd name. Ultimately a deal was reached but the fences were never truly mended.Waters and Gilmour have made a handful of public appearances together in the years since, though they have continued to snipe at each other through the media.

GQ men? Rick Wright, David Gilmour, Nick Mason

Tampa Stadium aka "The Big Sombrero"

We arrived at Tampa Stadium (aka "The Big Sombrero") in the proper state of mind for our first Floyd experience, but then things got really confusing. As we entered the building, the lights went out and the music began to play. We heard the opening strains of the Syd Barrett-inspired "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)". How's that for an opener? We hustled our way on to the tarp-covered field where our seats were located. Weaving our way through "a sea of faces", we spotted our section, #106. Since the seats were temporary, the section numbers were painted on to large pieces of plywood. We settled into our seats but discovered we were not in the right place. As we tried to scout out our proper seats, we spied one mischievous concertgoer pick up one of the section signs and switch it with a sign for a different section, just to create confusion. Chaos! I mean like, down was up and up was down, man! We were through the looking glass! A momentary lapse of reason, that's what we experienced. As we wandered around for a few moments, dazed and confused, my eyes were glued to the large circular video screen behind the band.  We were listening to "Signs Of Life", the opening song from the new album, an atmospheric Floydian mood-setter. The video showed a man in a rowboat, paddling faster and faster across a calm lake. As the pace of the rowing increased, the camera made a sudden move below the water's surface to reveal a murky universe, teeming with activity. This was a suddenly mind-blowing visual, symbolic of the things we don't know and can't see. For every calm, rational moment there is an equal and opposite underlying, inevitable chaos. Yin and Yang. For a fleeting moment, I felt alone among 60,000 fans, frozen, transfixed by a video on a giant screen while the legendary Pink Floyd performed. This snapshot has been stuck in my head for 25 years.

We eventually found our flimsy plastic folding-chair seats and stood upon them for the remainder of the show, somehow keeping our balance. The Floyd played the bulk of the new album, accompanied by more high-budget videos and a top-notch light show. The crowd got off on the recognizable FM-radio staples from "The Dark Side Of The Moon" and "The Wall". I was thrilled to hear a hidden gem from their early career, "One Of These Days" (see video above). It's a spooky piece with a dark psychedelic feel, an instrumental that is interrupted by one creepy spoken-word line, "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces." The voice belongs to drummer Nick Mason, one of the only vocal contributions of his Floyd career. A couple of years later, it was one of the highlights of my radio career when I sneaked it on the air one Saturday night when I worked as a DJ for WSHE (more on that gig in future posts).

With all of the show's bells and whistles, the videos and lights and even their trademark "Animals"-inspired flying pig, it was ultimately their amazing catalog that allowed Pink Floyd 3.0 to deliver a memorable stadium show. During "Comfortably Numb", Gilmour's epic guitar solo pushed the crowd over the edge, into a frenzy of air guitars and musical bliss. Wish you were there.

Unofficial setlist: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V), Signs Of Life, Learning To Fly, Yet Another Movie, Round And Round, A New Machine (Part 1), Terminal Frost, A New Machine (Part 2), Sorrow, The Dogs Of War, On The Turning Away, One Of These Days, Time, On The Run, Wish You Were Here, Us And Them, Money, Another Brick In The Wall Part 2, Comfortably Numb (Encore) One Slip, Run Like Hell

100 Concerts / Concert #12

Headline Act: The Cars

Touring Album: Door To Door

Opening Act: none

Date: October 22, 1987

Venue: O'Connell Center, Gainesville, FL
Ticket price:  COMPLIMENTARY

Late in my sophomore year at the University of Florida, I was killing time between classes one day with my friend and fraternity brother, Mark. We stumbled into the offices of the on-campus radio stations and through pure luck discovered that we could audition to become on-air talent. We read a few lines into a tape recorder and within days were each offered a chance to work as DJ's. Mark worked for a time spinning symphonies on Classic 89 while I got a gig with the rock station, Rock 104. Mark had to learn about Shostakovich, I had Aerosmith.. He got Rachmaninoff, I got Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The O'Dome (O'Connell Center), home of Gator basketball

This isn't me, but a typical '80s radio station control room.

To complete my training, I was given a one-hour audition late one weeknight. The first time the microphone went hot and the "ON AIR" sign was illuminated, I could hardly speak. Have you ever heard someone hyperventilate on the radio? Fortunately, my nerves settled quickly; I was soon awarded (or sentenced to) the overnight shift for the summer. I worked from 2 to 6 am several nights per week, with some occasional weekend shifts thrown in. It was exhausting and lonely but exciting as hell.

Razor blades and reel-to-reel editing

Compared to today's technology, it  now seems as if we were carving tablets like Fred Flintstone. We recorded commercials and news updates on reel-to-reel machines, marked the audio tape with a white grease pencil, cut it with a razor blade and completed the edit with special adhesive. If you messed up there was no "Undo" button. All our commercials (and some of the older songs) aired via carts, similar to 8-track cassettes. It was at this time that radio started to go digital. Thousands of LPs in the control room were starting to give way to the brand new Compact Disc format.

Rock 104 was not a typical low-powered college radio station. It was a big, booming 100,000-watt monster that broadcast all over North Central Florida. I honed my skills that summer and was rewarded with a more humane shift for the Fall semester, Monday through Friday nights, 11 pm to 2 am. This was a fantastic step for me but proved to be socially challenging. I had to leave parties early or completely miss social get-togethers to make my radio shift on-time and (mostly) sober. As a junior living in a fraternity house, this was a bummer at times. I wasn't a celebrity, I wasn't getting rich, and I wasn't getting lucky with the ladies. But in October I received one of the few perks of the job, free concert tickets. If you look carefully at the ticket stub shown above,  the wonderful word "COMPLIMENTARY" is stamped across the middle. Since The Cars were going to perform in the O'Connell Center on campus, I didn't have to go far for the concert. The building was home to UF's basketball, gymnastics, and swimming teams among others. Later, it was also the site of my college graduation in May 1989.

Heartbeat, it's a lovebeat.

Paulina & Ric = Beauty & The Beast?

The Cars were one of the New Wave bands of the late '70s who had hit the big time commercially, along with Blondie and Talking Heads. They had gone from respected FM radio staples ("My Best Friend's Girl", "Just What I Needed", "Let's Go") to megastars with a platinum-selling album, "Heartbeat City". The album spawned a pair of #1 singles,"You Might Think" and "Magic". They also had a big hit with "Drive", its video featured supermodel Paulina Porzikova. Lead singer Ric Ocasek's ensuing romance and long-term marriage to Paulina is still a prime example of how an awkward gangly guy can get one of the most beautiful women in the world. Of course he never would have had a chance if he weren't a rock star. Still, he gave us all hope!

I landed a date for the show, a rare occurrence for me in college. Debbie was one of the coolest girls I knew. We had no romantic past but I thought maybe a concert could change that. I mean, what college girl could resist a rock concert with a radio DJ who scored comp tickets?

The Country Bear Jamboree. Now that was a band!

As for The Cars, it was hard to tell if we were watching a live performance by a successful rock band or a Disney Audio-Animatronic show. I've seen more stage presence and personality from the Country Bear Jamboree than from Ric Ocasek and the band that night.  Without question, this was one of the least interesting shows I've ever seen. The O'Dome (as the building was nicknamed) wasn't filled anywhere close to capacity that night. One of the biggest groups in the world just three years earlier had run out of  gas. A year later, they broke up. In 2000, original member Benjamin Orr passed away. The Cars remained in the garage for more than a decade before the surviving members reunited and released a new album in 2011.

The Cars created no sparks on the stage and it was the same for our date. When the forgettable show ended, Debbie and I left quickly. She dropped me off just down the road at the radio station for my shift. I had to go spin some records for the good people of North Central Florida. I had a job to do. I was a DJ, damn it. Within a year, Debbie began dating Mike, my friend, fraternity brother and former roommate. Now, more than 20 years later, they have been married for a long time and have three kids. 

 

Sometimes when you get free concert tickets, you get exactly what you pay for. On this night, The Cars were nothing but lemons.

Unofficial setlist: Tonight She Comes, Touch And Go, Double Trouble, My Best Friend's Girl, Everything You Say, Since You're Gone, Fine Line, Let's Go, Strap Me In, Candy-O, Moving In Stereo, The Dangerous Type, Drive, You Are The Girl, Good Times Roll, You Might Think (Encore) Hello Again, Just What I Needed, Magic

100 Concerts / Concert #11

Headline Act: Genesis

Touring Album: Invisible Touch

Opening Act: The Bangles

Date: March 1, 1987

Venue: Orange Bowl, Miami, FL
Ticket price:  $17.75

"Tonight Tonight Tonight", the 1986 single from Genesis, became synonymous with a beer commercial that aired ad nauseum. So which came first, the song or the commercial? I wonder if a TV jingle was turned into a 9-minute album track by an aging band, well past its creative peak. When I think of Genesis' 1987 "Invisible Touch" tour I think of its sponsor, Michelob. The tour and the beer had a lot in common. Both were watered down, flavorless, and unmemorable.

This isn't an indictment on Genesis, a group with a long history and many excellent albums.Along with omnipresent singer/drummer Phil Collins (part-time "Miami Vice" actor and solo video star), the '80s version of the band was composed of keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford. The non-Collinses were part of the genesis of Genesis, original members way back in '67 ( the year of my birth). Collins became the frontman after founding member Peter Gabriel quit the group in the mid '70s.

1973 Mod Squad: Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett, Phil Collins

In their early days, they were an ambitious progressive rock band with beautiful albums such as "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" (1974) and "A Trick Of The Tail" (1976). Their music evolved into the early '80s with a more commercially viable sound while still maintaining interesting arrangements. "Abacab" (1981) is one of my all-time favorite '80s records, thanks to songs like "No Reply At All", "Man On The Corner" and the hypnotic title track. In our early high school years, as we learned how to drink beer on Hollywood beach, "Abacab" was one of those cassettes that we played over and over on our boom boxes.

Thanks to their frequently played MTV videos, the band reached new heights of fame with their eponymous album, "Genesis" (1983). Songs like "Mama", "Illegal Alien" and "Just A Job To Do" were solid standouts, but "That's All" was overly poppy, a little too Phil Collins' easy-listening light-FM-at-the-dentist-office-kind-of-thing. To me, "That's All" was the beginning of the end (the Exodus?) of Genesis. The band had eaten the forbidden fruit of pop mediocrity and decided it was delicious. And profitable.

 

Bangles Babe: The fetching Susanna Hoffs.

Regrettably, I missed their '84 "Mama" tour, so I had to settle for the '87 stadium show in the Orange Bowl, my second and final concert in the old rust bucket. The opening act was The Bangles, fronted by the gorgeous Susanna Hoffs. The group had a huge breakout hit in '86 with "Walk Like An Egyptian". They also scored hits with "Manic Monday" (written by Prince) and "Hazy Shade Of Winter" (Simon & Garfunkel). The "Egyptian" song/video was a guilty-pleasure hit that still pops up on '80s compilations without being too annoying, unlike some other staples of the decade ("Walking On Sunshine" for example). I must admit it was fun to hear tens of thousands of fans sing along to the meaningless chorus: "Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o. Walk like an Egyptian." An all-female pop band playing their goofy single to a stadium crowd, truly an Eighties moment.

The Bangles recorded a total of four albums before breaking up in 1990. They've since reunited with a pair of albums in  2003 and 2011. Susanna Hoffs has also enjoyed a solo career and together with the talented singer/songwriter Matthew Sweet ("Girlfriend", etc.) she recorded a couple of excellent albums under the pseudonyms Sid & Susie. Their "Under The Cover" Volumes I & II include excellent harmonies and fresh-sounding arrangements of classics by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young and other greats. Susanna Hoffs, sigh.

As for Collins and Co., I enjoyed the show. But if it weren't for my ticket stub, I'm not sure I'd remember it at all. Their musicianship was fine, they played some good songs, but there is just something missing from most stadium concerts. As I mentioned in a previous post (The Police concert in the OB, 1983), stadium shows can be like musical voyeurism. Unless you are sitting in a prime spot, you are more spectator than audience participant. Very few artists make the stadium experience satisfying. Genesis was not one of those.

Along with some friends, we sat in the lower level of the Orange Bowl, in the northeast corner of the stadium, near where the visitors' bench used to be at Dolphins games. "Invisible Touch" was the point in Genesis' career where declining originality and relevance met opportunity to cash in on a large scale. Collins was in the midst of a successful solo career that produced some memorable songs like "In The Air Tonight" and "Against All Odds". There were also several songs that don't hold up so well ("Sussudio", "Easy Lover", etc.). It's a tough task to be a frontman/songwriter for a band and have a successful solo career at the same time. There are only so many good songs to go around. Genesis was running out of them. 

Do you remember "Land Of Confusion" for the song itself or because of the video with the Spitting Image puppets? The legendary actor/comedian W.C. Fields once said “If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” Substitute "high-budget music videos with puppetry" for bullshit and you have the state of Genesis in 1987. The group released two more albums, one with Collins ("We Can't Dance", 1991) and one without him in 1997.

In 2010, Genesis was deservedly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.Their influence on the rock world was recognized by Trey Anastasio of Phish. In his speech, Anastasio said of Genesis, “Every musical rule and boundary was questioned and broken.” 

The book of Genesis is complete.They had a great run, sold a zillion albums, and created a lot of memorable music. Now, who wants a Michelob?

Unofficial setlist: Mama, Abacab, Domino, That's All, The Brazilian, In The Cage, ...In That Quiet Earth, Afterglow, Land Of Confusion, Tonight Tonight Tonight, Throwing It All Away, Home By The Sea, Second Home By The Sea, Invisible Touch , Drum Duet, Los Endos, Turn It On Again

100 Concerts / Concert #10

Headline Act: Billy Joel

Touring Album: The Bridge

Opening Act: none

Date: February 27, 1987

Venue: Sun Dome, Tampa, FL
Ticket price:  $17.50

Here Comes The Sun Dome.

Another concert, another short road trip from Gainesville. Along with my friends, we traveled to Tampa for my second Billy Joel show, this one in support of "The Bridge". The concert site was the Sun Dome on the campus of the University Of South Florida, one of the most inaccurately named universities in the country. Tampa may be south of Orlando, but no one would say it is in South Florida. Can we get a name change please?

You probably know I worship the Billy Joel catalog (see my previous love letter, um, prior post about my strong feelings for his music). Having said that, "The Bridge" is probably the weakest album of his career.

A few songs do stand out, however. One of my favorites is "Big Man On Mulberry Street", a big-band swing piece. It feels like it would have been perfect for a young Frank Sinatra. I'm a sucker for big horn sections. The old-school styled song wasn't destined to be a radio hit, but it found a TV audience when it was featured in a dream sequence of "Moonlighting" with Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd. 

"Getting Closer" is a hidden gem that features a Hammond organ solo by the ageless Steve Winwood, one of Joel's musical heroes. Lyrically, it's a scathing commentary about those around him who contributed to his financial woes. Check out a couple of the verses:

I went searching for the truth but in my innocence I found

All the con men and their acrobats who stomped me in the ground 

If I count up their percentages I know they're getting rich

But they haven't taken everything, those paybacks are a bitch

I'm a mark for every shyster from Topanga to Berlin
And I should have learned to kick them out as soon as they crawled in
So to every bank in Switzerland that stores my stolen youth
I'm all right because despite the laws you cannot hide the truth

Slave To The Traffic Light: Steve Winwood

Celebrity and the perils of show business are recurring subject matters for Billy, this tune is a companion piece for "Everybody Loves You Now" (1971), "The Entertainer" (1974), "Big Shot" (1980) and later "Great Wall Of China" (1993).

Along with Winwood, Cyndi Lauper also appears on "The Bridge", she shares songwriting credit and harmonies on "Code Of Silence". But of all the collaborations, it's "Baby Grand" that is most memorable. Billy wrote the give-and-take duet expressly for his idol, the legendary Ray Charles. It must have been a dream come true for Billy to record. In Charles' voice it's a heartbreaker with lyrics that feel authentic.

I've come far from the life I've strayed in
I've got scars from those dives I've played in
Now I'm home and I'm weary
In my bones every dreary one night stand
But my baby grand is coming home with me

 
Billy's affection for Charles was so strong that he named his daughter, Alexa Ray, in his honor.Critics may describe the song as schmaltzy or corny, but Billy never worried about those types of reactions. I think it's one of the best songs of Joel's last few albums.

As for some of the other songs on the subpar album, "Modern Woman" was a pop throwaway, featured on the movie soundtrack for "Ruthless People". "A Matter Of Trust" was a modest hit with frequent MTV rotation, but in my opinion it's one of the least memorable singles of his remarkable career."This Is The Time" became a staple of proms and yearbooks, but held up against Billy's catalog it's not nearly as memorable as the haunting "Souvenir" from "Streetlife Serenade". 

"Ruthless People", Danny DeVito & Bette Midler

Bridge to nowhere?

Regardless of the album (or the lack of a new album since 1993), Billy never disappoints his fans in concert. Our seats were in the upper deck of the Sun Dome, which is nearly identical to Gainesville's O'Connell Center. We were seated behind the stage, looking at the backs of Billy and his band for much of the show.  But in one memorable moment ("Sometimes A Fantasy"), Billy rotated his stand-up keyboard around 180 degrees and played while facing those of us in the back of the house. It was a simple move, but one that changed the feeling of the show for me. Even there in the upper reaches of an arena, we felt connected to his performance.

Billy Joel composed some of the most memorable music of the 20th century. He's been an eloquent poet who has written songs about love and heartbreak and social commentary on a variety of topics.With all of that talent, all his command of language, he ends almost every concert by giving his audience one final piece of advice: "Don't take any shit from anybody!". Billy never does.

Unofficial setlist: A Matter Of Trust, Pressure, You're Only Human (Second Wind), Piano Man, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Allentown, Goodnight Saigon, Summer, Highland Falls, Prelude / Angry Young Man, Don't Ask Me Why, Big Man On Mulberry Street, Baby Grand, An Innocent Man, The Longest Time, Only The Good Die Young, It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Sometimes A Fantasy, You May Be Right,  (Encore) Uptown Girl, Keeping The Faith, Big Shot

100 Concerts / Concert #9

Headline Act: The Moody Blues

Touring Album:The Other Side Of Life

Opening Act: The Fixx

Date: October 1, 1986

Venue: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, FL
Ticket price:  $16.00

"Timothy Leary's dead. No, no, no, he's outside, looking in." 

"Legend Of A Mind" (quoted above) is a 1968 song by the Moody Blues. It's a beautiful, dramatic, trippy song inspired by the LSD guru once described by President Nixon as "the most dangerous man in America".  Like Leary then, the Moody Blues are still outside, looking in. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has yet to induct them; I think that's a travesty.

"Go Now" was a #1 single in the UK in 1964.

Before developing their signature sound, they began their career in the early '60s as an R&B-based group, like their contemporaries, The The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks. The guys in the Moody Blues didn't have the outrageous behavior of Keith Moon, the drug-using reputation of Keith Richards or the charismatic leadership of Freddie Mercury. Perhaps it's their lack of controversy or notable front man that has left them unrecognized by the Hall, because their exclusion doesn't make sense to me.

With a variety of different lineups, they have recorded 16 albums, including a remarkably inventive 8-LP run from '65 to '72.  The most notable creation from this era ,"Days Of Future Passed", is a true classic. Not only was it one of the first concept albums in rock history, it was also innovative by combining rock with classical orchestration from the London Festival Orchestra. The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and countless other bands have included orchestral arrangements in their music, but The Moody Blues were the first to make it a major part of their sound.

"Days Of Future Passed" was also innovative in its use of extended passages of spoken poetry from drummer Graeme Edge, voiced with Shakespearean eloquence on the LP by keyboardist Mike Pinder. The album's climax, "Nights In White Satin", is followed by "Late Lament" which concludes with the dramatic strike of a gong. This album was creative, daring, and brilliant.

Late Lament

 Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Bedsitter people look back and lament,
Another day's useless energy spent.
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,
Lonely man cries for love and has none.
New mother picks up and suckles her son,
Senior citizens wish they were young.
Cold-hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colors from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white.
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion.

"Days Of Future Passed" (1967), a true masterpiece and a really cool album cover.

As a freshman at the University of Florida in 1985-86, I spent countless hours in the basement dorm room of my buddies Dave and Mike. We would hunker down late at night, blow off some steam after studying and listen to a lot of cassette tapes.  Along with Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, we listened to a ton of Moody Blues. Their early albums were layered with haunting harmonies ("Voices In The Sky") and well-crafted songs that built the framework for sophisticated albums. Maybe it was just our impressionable college freshmen minds (and altered states), but we viewed The Moodies as an elegant, thoughtful band with exquisitely produced music.

The Ocean Center, Daytona Beach

Gainesville, a true college town, did not get a lot of major artists passing through for concerts. Fortunately, we were only a short drive from Tampa, Orlando, and for this show, Daytona Beach.  We made the trek to the Ocean Center, just a stoner's throw from the Atlantic Ocean.

The opening act was Ned Beatty, uh, The Fixx (see my previous post on The Police concert for an explanation). We were there only to see the aging British hippies who looked more like a group of professors than rock musicians.  As expected, they delivered an excellent career-spanning set, buoyed in part by their '80s hits, "The Other Side Of Life" and "Your Wildest Dreams". The latter was a #1 single on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts. A couple years later they had another hit, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere". The new songs may not have been their career peak, but they did help reach a new generation of fans. At the very least, the new music reminded their older fans they were still alive and well.

1986: Professors or rock band? You decide.

Though they seemed to us to be old men in 1986, the members of the Moody Blues were only in their mid-forties. They've released just 4 more albums in the decades since that show, the most recent in 2003. As I write this in Spring 2012, they are still touring, still performing, still telling their stories. Ray Thomas, now 71, was one of the group's founding members. He retired in 2002.  Graeme Edge, another founding member who is still touring, will be 71 this year. Also still on tour are long-time Moodies John Lodge (67 this year) and Justin Hawyard (66). They may not be enshrined yet in Cleveland, but they've certainly become the very thing they sang about in 1981, Veteran Cosmic Rockers.

Unofficial setlist: Gemini Dream, The Voice, Rock And Roll Over You, Tuesday Afternoon, Your Wildest Dreams, Isn't Life Strange, The Story In Your Eyes, It May Be A Fire, Painted Smile, Reflective Smile, Veteran Cosmic Rocker (Intermission) New Horizons, Talking Out Of Turn, The Other Side Of Life, I'm Just A Singer, Nights In White Satin. Legend Of A Mind, Question, (Encore) Ride My See-Saw

100 Concerts / Concert #8

Headline Act: U2

Touring Album: The Unforgettable Fire

Opening Act: Red Rockers

Date: May 3, 1985

Venue: The Hollywood Sportatorium. Hollywood, FL
Ticket price:  $14.50

Red Rockers (John Thomas Griffith at far right)

Do you remember Red Rockers? I didn't think so. Like U2, they started out with a Punk Rock attitude, then crossed over into pop success with their MTV hit, "China". Their core fans felt alienated by their mainstream airplay, accusing them of selling out. At the peak of their modest success they disbanded and disappeared into the ether, just another '80s group never to be heard from again.

There are many differences between hundreds of bands with fleeting fame like Red Rockers and those bands with staying power like U2. Talent may be the most important difference, but there is a mysterious gumbo of timing, luck, chemistry, good management, and sheer perseverance that combine to separate the greats from the shoulda-woulda-coulda groups.  Unlike Red Rockers, U2 were laying the foundation for immense worldwide popularity in 1985. U2 were touring in support of its fourth album, "The Unforgettable Fire", but it was too soon to think that they would be around for decades.  "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" was a radio/MTV hit single for Bono and the boys as they carved out their post-"War" sound. The new album was produced with David Bowie's partner in crime, Brian Eno, and featured spacey, atmospheric songs unlike anything in their previous catalog.  It was a new, more mature sound.

In 1983, it felt like an adventure to see the relatively unknown U2. Less than two years later, they were the "flavor of the month" and it was easy to assemble a group of 8-10 friends for their show. We were high school seniors, only weeks from graduating. Any excuse to gather together, have a few beers and catch some live music sounded like a great time. 

The arena was packed with thousands of newly converted fans, including many young women who saw Bono (power mullet and all) as one of rock's sex symbols. The big show-stopper was "Bad", Bono's emotional rant about the evils of heroin addiction. Bono has commented in other shows that the song is about a friend of his, Gareth (later name-checked in the U2 song "Peace On Earth"), who overdosed and died from a night of shooting smack. Bono's extended ad-lib on "Bad" gave him room to take command of any venue (such as "Live Aid" just months after this show). His 1 and 2-line snippets from Classic Rock songs ("Ruby Tuesday", "Walk On The Wild Side", and others) were a very non-Punk tip of the cap to those rock pioneers who had helped pave the way for U2. It also served notice that U2 saw themselves on the same path, with a similar attitude as The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, and some of their heroes. They weren't content to pay homage to their rock gods. Bono was serving notice that U2 were coming to stand along side them. Eventually.

Unforgettable, that's what you are...

My second U2 show was bittersweet.  There was a brief window of time after the 1983 U2 concert when I felt like I had my own super-cool secret band, and now suddenly they were popular. As the albums, tours, and years have rolled past I learned to let go of that misguided sense of ownership. They never were actually "my" band. I realized I had to share. 

Some fans abandon their favorite artists as soon as they get too popular, like dumping a girlfriend who was once subtly cute but has now blossomed into Homcoming Queen. These fans ("dumpers") break up with their band/girlfriend so they can discover that "first kiss" moment again. They move on to next hidden treasure band and start to date them, only to dump and repeat. For me, U2 always felt like a long-term relationship. I've never had the urge to "Walk On". 'Til death do us part. 

Cowboy Mouth (JTG on the far right)

It turns out that John Thomas Griffith, the lead singer and lead guitarist of Red Rockers, went on to form Cowboy Mouth. The Louisiana-based band has had a solid career wth over a dozen albums and a rabid following for their southern-rock-party-blues-band style. No matter his recent success, I'm guessing JTG (as his fans call him) doesn't mind letting some people know that back in the day, a generation ago, he and his band opened for U-fricking-2. Now that's truly Unforgettable.

Unofficial setlist: 11 O'Clock Tick Tock, I Will Follow, Seconds, MLK, The Unforgettable Fire, Wire, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Cry, The Electric Co., A Sort Of Homecoming, Bad, October, New Year's Day, Pride (In The Name Of Love), Encore: Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Gloria, 40

100 Concerts / Concert #7

Headline Act: Roger Waters

Touring Album: The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

Opening Act: none

Date: April 13, 1985

Venue: The Hollywood Sportatorium. Hollywood, FL

Ticket price: $15.00

“The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?” 
– "Have A Cigar" (1975)

Early Floyd: Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Syd Barrett, Richard Wright

Most music fans assume the question above was a dig at fat-cat record company execs who were too busy counting their millions to learn or care about the musicians who made them rich. But perhaps the query was directed inward at the members of Pink Floyd who struggled to determine the answer to the real question: "Whose band is it anyway?"

In their formative years, Pink Floyd was unquestionably Syd Barrett’s band. Wearing their LSD on their sleeves, The Floyd's psychedelic multimedia performances influenced many other artists in the late ‘60s London club scene. But it was all too much, too soon, and too intense for Barrett who took an infamous drug-fueled cliff dive into the abyss of Insanity and Schizophrenia. It was a one-way ticket for Syd who lived a hazy, mysterious existence until his death in 2006.

David Gilmour (2nd from left) replaced Syd Barrett

As Barrett slipped away, David Gilmour joined the band.  Though he was a talented guitarist and singer, he would prove to be no match for bassist Roger Waters, the eventual Alpha Dog of the group. Waters flexed his considerable creative muscles over most of the band’s post-Barrett career. 

Despite their differences in musical direction and personalities, Waters and Gilmour led the band through the writing and recording of the legendary "The Dark Side Of The Moon” (1974), the haunting Barrett-inspired  “Wish You Were Here”(1975), and the caustic “Animals” (1977). By the time “The Wall” (1979) and “The Final Cut” (1983) were released, the band was in shambles. Waters was the band's creative pacesetter, plowing ahead as his bandmates struggled with drugs, divorce, and other issues. "The Final Cut" was essentially a Waters solo album. Throughout the band’s roller coaster of enormous success and bitter personality clashes, one thing was constant - Roger Waters was Pink.

Inevitably, Waters left the band. Despite his protests and legal wrangling, the rest of the group (Gilmour, keyboardist Rick Wright, drummer Nick Mason, and several session musicians) recorded and toured with “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason” (1987) and “The Division Bell” (1994).

Mr. Pink, before Steve Buscemi

Once he was post-Floyd, Waters released “The Pros And Cons Of Hiitchhiking” (1984), a complicated album, never intended to be radio-friendly. Told in "real time", the songs (with their time-stamped titles) weave a story of life on the road as seen through the eyes of one man. "Pros And Cons"' is a microcosm of much of Waters' songwriting: mysterious, angry, humorous, beautiful, and dark.

I had not digested this album properly by March of 1985, but being a Pink Floyd fan I was intrigued to see Waters perform.  The 1982 Alan Parker film of “The Wall” was a favorite Midnight Movie at our local AMC theatre (“Stop that dog!”). My group of friends and I spent many non-sober hours trying to make sense of "The Wall"s themes and lyrics. Though my pre-college Floydian knowledge was incomplete, we knew we were in store for a great show from Waters.  Eric Clapton was the guitarist on the album and for the U.K. portion of the tour, but we were not as fortunate, instead Andy Fairweather-Low handled Slowhand’s duties. Also in Waters' touring band was saxophonist Mel Collins, who has played with The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, Bad Company, The Alan Parsons Project and others.

Waters' alter-ego, "Reg", from the "Pros & Cons" album art

The first of the concert's two sets was all Pink Floyd material, and the crowd ate it up. In the second set, Waters did something I had not witnessed before, and very few times since. He played his album.  Not a few songs or a 5-song sampling. He played the entire f-in' album. To pull this off you have to be an established act. You have to be ultra-confident in the message and style of your material. And you have to not give a shit whether or not you are boring the audience.  Roger Waters had huge balls. He was Pink, after all.

It was a stunning performance of an expertly crafted piece of music, marked by dramatic highs and lows.  This show solidified me further as a Floyd fan and was the first of three memorable shows I have been fortunate enough to see Roger Waters play.

The original "Pros And Cons" album art seen here featured the bare behind of a blonde woman, hitch hiking by the side of a road.  This image ignited a controversy as some people accused the record company of advertising rape. Columbia Records eventually released a censored version of the cover with a black rectangle covering the model's best assets. By today's standards of pop culture (virtually R-rated primetime sitcoms and X-rated pop & hip-hop songs), this album cover seems as innocent as the married Lucy and Ricky Ricardo having separate beds on "I Love Lucy", it's almost Puritanical!

Unofficial setlist: (Set 1) Welcome To the Machine, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Money, If, Wish You Were Here, Pigs on the Wing (part 1), Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, Southampton Dock, The Gunner's Dream, In The Flesh, Nobody Home, Have A Cigar, Another Brick in the Wall Part 1, The Happiest Days Of  Our Lives, Another Brick In The Wall Part 2,  (Set 2) 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad), 4:33 AM (Running Shoes), 4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies), 4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 2), 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution), 4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love), 4:50 AM (Go Fishing), 4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 1),4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin), 5:01 AM (The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, Part 10), 5:06 AM (Every Stranger's Eyes), 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity) (Encore) Brain Damage / Eclipse

100 Concerts / Concert #6

Headline Act: Rush

Touring Album:Grace Under Pressure

Opening Act: none

Date: March 15, 1985

Venue: The Hollywood Sportatorium. Hollywood, FL

Ticket price: $14.00

  "Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive. Plays that song that's so elusive and the magic music

makes your morning mood.

Off on your way, hit the open road, there is magic at your fingers. For the Spirit ever lingers, undemanding contact

in your happy solitude."

"The Spirit Of Radio" from "Permanent Waves" (1980)

Long-haired freaky people, 1974 publicity photo.

In my middle and high school years, Rush fans were easy to spot. They were teenage boys (never girls) who typically had long hair and smoked (both cigarettes and pot). They were the older kids hanging out at the video game arcade or the bowling alley. They were the dudes leaning on the chain-linked fence before school, planning where to cut class. We called them "burnouts", but their musical tastes were smarter than I realized.

Great Rock Doc, a must-see for any fan.

I first caught the Rush bug when "Tom Sawyer" hit the radio and I soon connected the dots to their earlier work ("Fly By Night", "Closer To The Heart", "Working Man") that was played on FM radio, WSHE (She's Only Rock And Roll!). Rush had dipped their brush into the palette of progressive rock (lengthy musical exploration without pop music's conventional structure), painted with strokes of early '70s metal (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple) and fine-tuned their art with articulate, thoughtful lyrics that rival any rock group. On the outside, they were long-haired, heavy sounding and mystical in message. On the inside they were educated, humorous, and two-thirds "Nice Jewish Boy" (lead singer & bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson are Jewish, drummer Neil Peart is not). 

Already a major rock act before MTV, their videos exposed them to a mainstream audience with "New World Man" and "Subdivisions" from "Signals" (1982). Their 1984 release, "Grace Under Pressure" was another step in their songwriting development, a quality album but a departure for Rush, produced with '80s influences of more prominent synthesizers and electronic drums.

My buddy Brian (not a burnout) had been a Rush fan long before me. He turned me on to their concept album, "2112" (1976), which we managed to weave into a creative "film concept" project for school. Yeah, we felt cool about this. By the time Rush came to The Sporto in 1985, we were plenty jacked up to see them perform.

Neil Peart, Drum Major.

It's rare when a rock band's most legendary member is its drummer, but Neil Peart is a unique talent. As documented in the recent excellent Rush documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage", Peart has a shy, quiet personality away from the stage. In concert, Peart is simply a force of nature.  The rock concert drum solo is often considered a self-indulgent cliché, but Peart elevates the act to an exquisite display of rhythm and showmanship.  As he began his solo, Peart's riser elevated above the stage, the entire drum kit rotated 360 degrees as he played.  I remember the incredible visual of Peart playing with his kit nearly perpindicular to the stage as we got a great view of his lightning-quick hands and gifted percussive skills.  Peart's lengthy drum solo brought the crowd to its feet. We knew we were in the presence of a legend in the making.

True Bromance: "I Love You, Man"

In the movie "I Love You, Man", Paul Rudd tries to explain his passion for Rush to his fiancee, Rashida Jones. He plays a song and is met by her complete disinterest and puzzlement. This scene perfectly captures Rush's general appeal to women, which is none.  Whether it's their lack of "rock star" sex appeal or their lack of songs about love and romance or something else, ladies don't seem to get Rush, and that's fine. Just the way Rudd and his bromance buddy (Jason Segel) enjoyed some male bonding in the movie, Rush concerts are a boys' club. They're a place where the burnouts and the geeks and the college kids and the aging hipsters can play some air guitar and jam with one of the greatest rock groups in history.  "Happy solitude", indeed.

Unofficial setlist: The Spirit Of Radio, Subdivisions, The Body Electric, The Enemy Within, The Weapon, Witch Hunt, New World Man, Between The Wheels, Red Barchetta, Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A, Closer To The Heart, Afterimage, YYZ, 2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx, Tom Sawyer, (Encore) Red Lenses (with drum solo), Vital Signs, Finding My Way, In The Mood