the crucible, part 1
When I was in Michigan over Christmas, I had cause to go through a bunch of boxes of old shit. While I didn't find I was looking for, I found all sorts of random old shit, including a list of the first 40 or so concerts I went to, including date, venue, opening act, who I saw them with, and for the first few where we sat. (This last data point faded as I started going to concerts that didn't have assigned seating or more than one space for people to sit/stand.) As you can see, listmaking is a long-entrenched habit in my life.
I thought it was interesting to see how I got from mainstream to Mudhoney in 40 moves, and probably no more or less embarrassing than anything else I write about, and so, whenever I don't have anything else to write about, I'll tackle a few more entries off the list.
1. July 1, 1987: Heart wsg Tom Kimmel, Pine Knob. My first concert, and it was an amazing experience. I suspect any concert would have been, to be sure, but I remember being there with my two 14-year old friends (one of whose mother was waiting for us on the other side of the fence, reading in her car or some such) and just having the sense that magic was going to happen. I wasn't really a huge Heart fan, but I had bought Bad Animals prior to the show (this was their album after their big self-titled comeback album) and had a tape copy of said self-titled comeback album and some best-of/live album or something, so I knew pretty much every song they played. I can't say that any particular performance sticks with me, though. I mostly remember the lights, the reds and blues, being out on the lawn of Pine Knob under a darkening summer sky, and being in a world of magic. I remember being dismayed that, near the end of the set and during the encore, people started to leave on a regular basis. How could you leave a concert early? You paid for every note, from "Magic Man" and "Barracuda" to "These Dreams" and "Alone". (Remember "Alone"? No? Here's the video, which has some of the worst editing I've ever seen in a video near the end.)
That night at home, I wrote down the setlist in the best order I could remember (a piece of paper I have not located and do not expect to, though it would blow my brain if I did) and tried to get my head around the new and extraordinary world that would await me in adulthood when I could go to concerts whenever I wanted.
As for Tom Kimmel, he's the "That's Freedom" dude, as I recall. I presume he was on the same record label, although at the time I spent lots of mental energy trying to figure out how a band chose their opening act. I think I might have thought they had auditions, like try-outs for a talent show.
Merch purchased: black "Bad Animals" Heart t-shirt.
2. (unknown date), Michael W. Smith wsg elin hall, (unknown location). I started making this list in early '91, I think (that's when the handwriting style changes), so it involved a lot of retrospection, but most of it involved the ticket stubs. Apparently, I didn't have one for the first show I saw with my church youth group. Unlike some people, I have no entertaining stories to tell about said youth group, nor do I have animosity against the church I grew up in, even though I no longer am a part of it. They were nice people, and it was perfectly pleasant, as I recall, going to see Michael W. Smith with them. At the time, it would be fair to say that, while I made no special point of catching up with Mr. Smith's recorded works, the novelty of going to a rock concert was sufficient that overall it was a pretty exciting experience for me, even though my memories are pretty much limited to the fact that we were sitting slightly stage-left, two-thirds of the way back.
I am positive that elin hall was the name of the opening band, as I have a very distinct visual memory of a banner behind them with their name (in lower case) as they played instantly forgettable music that helped make Mr. Smith stand out. However, Google makes it seem as if they never existed. I used to think that every band, no matter how innocuous or tedious they seemed to me, had someone out there who was a raving fan; now, I think I finally have a counterexample.
Merch purchased: n/a.
3. March 4, 1988: Rush w. Tommy Shaw, Joe Louis Arena. NOW we're talking. In the early months of 1987, my corrupting influence and musical savior, Ken, gave me three tapes, C-90s, so six albums, which introduced me to the world of classic rock. As far as I can recall, in ascending order of influence, they were Heart's self-titled album, Yes's 90125, Van Halen's self-titled album, Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced?, Led Zeppelin's IV, and coming in #1 with a large margin, Rush's Moving Pictures. I kept giving Ken C-90's to get copies of as much of Rush's discography as possible, and started buying CDs as well - I'm pretty sure that when Hold Your Fire came out that fall, it was the first album that I bought on its release date. I can still recite the first fifteen or so albums in the Rush discography in chronological order. Some would argue that this may be related to why I am single at the moment.
Anyway, Ken and I went to this show with our friend Steve, who played bass in a band with Ken and was such a fan of Rush that when they had to submit an equipment list for some high school talent show, he listed "Taurus pedals" because Geddy Lee used them. As an aside, I just realized I had no idea what Taurus pedals actually looked like, so I went hunting and found this:
So the three of us (along with two other people I only identified as "2 chicks" on this list; apparently the 17-year old me who compiled this list was not very PC) were very very primed for this to be a life-changing performance, and Rush delivered. The fine folks at 2112.net have a tour archive, and from this I can remember that I started off slightly underwhelmed because I thought "Big Money" was kind of a dumb song and I didn't really know Signals yet so "Subdivisions" wasn't a big deal to me. (Don't get me wrong; I'm sure I was still ecstatic just to be there and in the presence of Rush, and the most elaborate show I'd seen to date - accompanying videos and everything! - but it was a low level of ecstacy in comparison to what was to come. But once "Limelight" kicked in, things started really taking off, and then the one-two of "Marathon" and "Turn The Page" left me completely overwhelmed with joy and the overwhelming epiphany that only a 14-year old geek at a Rush show can truly know. For some idea, check the brief crowd inserts early on from this performance of "Turn The Page" that was shot on this tour:
And there was still an hour after that. I felt like a kid who had the best fucking Halloween ever and kept eating candy in one night, but somehow magically didn't get sick. I wouldn't experience a concert this overwhelming and life-changing for another four years.
As for opening act Tommy Shaw, despite Kilroy Was Here being the first album I owned, I didn't know Styx well at that point, and certainly didn't know his solo career. I'm pretty sure he played "Come Sail Away", but looking online, it might have been more likely he did "Fooling Yourself" and "Too Much Time On My Hands", as well as plenty of his solo efforts, I'm sure. It was fine, but a pale ember in comparison to the Rush-ian inferno that consumed my heart that night.
Merch purchased: a red Rush Hold Your Fire t-shirt. I can no longer remember, but either Ken or I inadvertently purchased a shirt that was missing the "E" at the end of "Hold Your Fire", which led to years of "Hold Your Fir" jokes.
Hmmm. This is taking a very long time, but I can't help but reveal that my follow-up concert was ...
4. October 22, 1988. Amy Grant w. Michael W. Smith, The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Yes, church youth group strikes for the second and final time. Twenty years of denial have obliterated most of the memories, but I'm sure I'd be lying if I said at the time it was a negative experience.
Merch purchased: n/a.
And on that note, see you next week.
I thought it was interesting to see how I got from mainstream to Mudhoney in 40 moves, and probably no more or less embarrassing than anything else I write about, and so, whenever I don't have anything else to write about, I'll tackle a few more entries off the list.
1. July 1, 1987: Heart wsg Tom Kimmel, Pine Knob. My first concert, and it was an amazing experience. I suspect any concert would have been, to be sure, but I remember being there with my two 14-year old friends (one of whose mother was waiting for us on the other side of the fence, reading in her car or some such) and just having the sense that magic was going to happen. I wasn't really a huge Heart fan, but I had bought Bad Animals prior to the show (this was their album after their big self-titled comeback album) and had a tape copy of said self-titled comeback album and some best-of/live album or something, so I knew pretty much every song they played. I can't say that any particular performance sticks with me, though. I mostly remember the lights, the reds and blues, being out on the lawn of Pine Knob under a darkening summer sky, and being in a world of magic. I remember being dismayed that, near the end of the set and during the encore, people started to leave on a regular basis. How could you leave a concert early? You paid for every note, from "Magic Man" and "Barracuda" to "These Dreams" and "Alone". (Remember "Alone"? No? Here's the video, which has some of the worst editing I've ever seen in a video near the end.)
That night at home, I wrote down the setlist in the best order I could remember (a piece of paper I have not located and do not expect to, though it would blow my brain if I did) and tried to get my head around the new and extraordinary world that would await me in adulthood when I could go to concerts whenever I wanted.
As for Tom Kimmel, he's the "That's Freedom" dude, as I recall. I presume he was on the same record label, although at the time I spent lots of mental energy trying to figure out how a band chose their opening act. I think I might have thought they had auditions, like try-outs for a talent show.
Merch purchased: black "Bad Animals" Heart t-shirt.
2. (unknown date), Michael W. Smith wsg elin hall, (unknown location). I started making this list in early '91, I think (that's when the handwriting style changes), so it involved a lot of retrospection, but most of it involved the ticket stubs. Apparently, I didn't have one for the first show I saw with my church youth group. Unlike some people, I have no entertaining stories to tell about said youth group, nor do I have animosity against the church I grew up in, even though I no longer am a part of it. They were nice people, and it was perfectly pleasant, as I recall, going to see Michael W. Smith with them. At the time, it would be fair to say that, while I made no special point of catching up with Mr. Smith's recorded works, the novelty of going to a rock concert was sufficient that overall it was a pretty exciting experience for me, even though my memories are pretty much limited to the fact that we were sitting slightly stage-left, two-thirds of the way back.
I am positive that elin hall was the name of the opening band, as I have a very distinct visual memory of a banner behind them with their name (in lower case) as they played instantly forgettable music that helped make Mr. Smith stand out. However, Google makes it seem as if they never existed. I used to think that every band, no matter how innocuous or tedious they seemed to me, had someone out there who was a raving fan; now, I think I finally have a counterexample.
Merch purchased: n/a.
3. March 4, 1988: Rush w. Tommy Shaw, Joe Louis Arena. NOW we're talking. In the early months of 1987, my corrupting influence and musical savior, Ken, gave me three tapes, C-90s, so six albums, which introduced me to the world of classic rock. As far as I can recall, in ascending order of influence, they were Heart's self-titled album, Yes's 90125, Van Halen's self-titled album, Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced?, Led Zeppelin's IV, and coming in #1 with a large margin, Rush's Moving Pictures. I kept giving Ken C-90's to get copies of as much of Rush's discography as possible, and started buying CDs as well - I'm pretty sure that when Hold Your Fire came out that fall, it was the first album that I bought on its release date. I can still recite the first fifteen or so albums in the Rush discography in chronological order. Some would argue that this may be related to why I am single at the moment.
Anyway, Ken and I went to this show with our friend Steve, who played bass in a band with Ken and was such a fan of Rush that when they had to submit an equipment list for some high school talent show, he listed "Taurus pedals" because Geddy Lee used them. As an aside, I just realized I had no idea what Taurus pedals actually looked like, so I went hunting and found this:
So the three of us (along with two other people I only identified as "2 chicks" on this list; apparently the 17-year old me who compiled this list was not very PC) were very very primed for this to be a life-changing performance, and Rush delivered. The fine folks at 2112.net have a tour archive, and from this I can remember that I started off slightly underwhelmed because I thought "Big Money" was kind of a dumb song and I didn't really know Signals yet so "Subdivisions" wasn't a big deal to me. (Don't get me wrong; I'm sure I was still ecstatic just to be there and in the presence of Rush, and the most elaborate show I'd seen to date - accompanying videos and everything! - but it was a low level of ecstacy in comparison to what was to come. But once "Limelight" kicked in, things started really taking off, and then the one-two of "Marathon" and "Turn The Page" left me completely overwhelmed with joy and the overwhelming epiphany that only a 14-year old geek at a Rush show can truly know. For some idea, check the brief crowd inserts early on from this performance of "Turn The Page" that was shot on this tour:
And there was still an hour after that. I felt like a kid who had the best fucking Halloween ever and kept eating candy in one night, but somehow magically didn't get sick. I wouldn't experience a concert this overwhelming and life-changing for another four years.
As for opening act Tommy Shaw, despite Kilroy Was Here being the first album I owned, I didn't know Styx well at that point, and certainly didn't know his solo career. I'm pretty sure he played "Come Sail Away", but looking online, it might have been more likely he did "Fooling Yourself" and "Too Much Time On My Hands", as well as plenty of his solo efforts, I'm sure. It was fine, but a pale ember in comparison to the Rush-ian inferno that consumed my heart that night.
Merch purchased: a red Rush Hold Your Fire t-shirt. I can no longer remember, but either Ken or I inadvertently purchased a shirt that was missing the "E" at the end of "Hold Your Fire", which led to years of "Hold Your Fir" jokes.
Hmmm. This is taking a very long time, but I can't help but reveal that my follow-up concert was ...
4. October 22, 1988. Amy Grant w. Michael W. Smith, The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Yes, church youth group strikes for the second and final time. Twenty years of denial have obliterated most of the memories, but I'm sure I'd be lying if I said at the time it was a negative experience.
Merch purchased: n/a.
And on that note, see you next week.
8 Comments:
Video comments
One
It strikes me that it must take some kind of foolish bravery to look that stupid in something you plan to show to millions of people. I have to wonder whether they had a moment of self-reflection at any point which might have led to misgivings about doing it. Then I imagine some slimy producer type--possibly with a leather jacket, a little pony tail, and a plateful of blow--coming around to reassure them that they are totally hip. He even mentions that they will throw in a bunch of impossibly short edits that are all the rage on MTV at the time. He claims that these edits imply movement and will make them seem young and "with it."
Through some long series of clicks, I ended up at Ann Wilson's MySpace page, listening to her cover if "Immigrant Song." If you weren't already convinced that John Bonham was the most important part of Zeppelin, listening to this cover will do the trick. This song is about Viking raids and Bonham knew just how to make his drums sound like a melee. Ann Wilson, by contrast, turns the rhythm into a controlled staccato. Boo. Where's the fun in that?
Two
Was anybody else bothered by that little door that kept falling down as the guy was demonstrating this? What were the people at Moog thinking when they designed that? I mean, I get that they wanted a way to prevent those settings from accidentally being changed, but they seriously under-designed that door.
Three
Why does Geddy have a tip jar? Are members of the audience supposed to come up and put bread in it (to paraphrase Billy Joel)? Or is that for stage personnel only?
One - Let's keep in mind it's 1987 and I'm not sure Heart's that far out at the end of the bell curve w/r/t looking stupid. I mean this is the era of Stevie Nicks solo videos and such. The edits are truly terrible, though.
Two - Since the pedals are meant to be played with the foot and the door's only closing because the bass is so loud, I don't think it's a huge issue. I mean, unless you played barefoot and were agile like a mongoose*, you wouldn't be changing them on the fly.
Three - The tip jar's for the Big Money.
*I pray someone gets this reference.
I used to own a Moog Taurus. The actual "Taurus" preset is head and shoulders more powerful than the other three presets or the onboard synth. When properly amplified, they sound HUGE. They are cumbersome and overbuilt, but the tone has yet to be matched. Taurus, Mellotron, and a sprinkling of ARP and you're in prog heaven. enough.
The edits are truly terrible, though.
You're probably right, but I've completely forgotten.
I was wondering what horrible song was going to weave it's way into my brain today, to torture me on an endless rotation...
After yesterday's version of The police's "Roxanne" beating my head to a pulp, with the entire song being sung in an overdone mexican accent.. I thought today's song couldn't be worse...
But it is.
When I was a kid, i took voice lessons from this lady down the street from my house. After a couple of months of training, my coach decided that the world was ready for me. She took me to her church, and I sang Amy Grant's "El Shaddai". I think I had a fucking perm too. My mother has a picture of me holding the microphone and looking earnest, standing next to a piano with my instructor beaming.... GOD. I was so proud to have mastered a cheap verse of Hebrew.
So, thanks for that Doug. Thanks for making today's song so much worse than yesterdays.
I remember my own experiences in my church's youth group, and the exceedingly brief flash of time when Amy Grant was big. I even remember quite vividly "El Shaddai" being sung and played a whole lot for about a summer. What a memory to dredge up. Jeez.
Apparently the version of "Roxanne" that was beating me to a bloody pulp inside and out yesterday was actually the Columbian version and not the Mexican one as I led you to believe.
And I still have that fucking El Shaddai garbage stuck in my poor little head.
For what it's worth, I couldn't actually remember any Amy Grant when I wrote that, but now that you mention "El Shaddai" I distinctly remember that song, from the AGE TO AGE album, and it is stuck in my head.
So, thanks for returning the favor.
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