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Richard Scotti
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10/5/2011 1:47:01 PM
What amazing concerts have you seen?
Lately I've been thinking about writing a book about my experiences related to music. One of the sections would include a description of the best concerts I've seen. One aspect of this would be discussing some of the more unique "once in a lifetime" shows that I was lucky enough to see
from backstage as a staff member in a rock venue and as part of an opening act for some very famous artists and bands, Anyway, two of the most bizarre concerts I ever saw were Jimi Hendrix opening for the Young Rascals and the Doors opening for Simon and Garfunkel.
In both cases the opening acts were mostly booed because the fans mainly came to see the headliners. How bizarre is that? Of course the music played by all the acts was incredible
but folks just weren't ready for Jimi lighting his guitar on fire and Jim singing the "The End"
while lying on the floor. Does anyone have any other "strange concert" experiences? I'll be blogging about my musical experiences on a regular basis as a way of testing the waters for a book. I have a lot of stories to share that I think would interest my kindred spirits at IAC.
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Tom O'Brien
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10/5/2011 3:48:49 PM
I saw The Eagles many years ago. I was pretty stoned on something. I remember booing the opening act and later realizing it was ROY FREAKING ORBISON! Ah, the folly of youth.
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Richard Scotti
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10/5/2011 4:04:46 PM
Youth is like a rehearsal for later life. We all make mistakes in rehearsal.
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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10/6/2011 4:26:40 PM
It was the late 1980s in Christchurch NZ
I think the venue was QE11 arena
the Artisrs??
The Pretenders, Simple Minds,--- and the stars Talking Heads
I was in a band called the Cube at the time and after a great show, inhaling 2nd hand ganja smoke for 3 hours, we decided to try the after party at a nite club in town
Our lead singer Helen got in easily---she is beautiful and said she was the bass players girlfriend, I was blocked at first, then I told the doorman I was "her driver"
He assumed she was a prostitute, and I was soon sitting at a table drinking Bolly with most of the Heads---David Byrne was there but not smoking or drinking, it was wild and blow me---Helen did go off with the bassman (from the Pretenders) leaving me stranded---I had to walk home!!
Next day she rang and said she had an awful night and why didn't I look after her better-----!!!!
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Richard Scotti
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10/7/2011 8:19:23 AM
At a stadium concert in Oakland CA we saw the Grateful Dead open for the Who. The Dead played for four hours and we're incredible. Then the Who performed the entire rock opera of Tommy in addition to all their other hits. Long concert, (7.5 hours) but worth it!
A couple next to us shared their food with us. After the concert we took them to dinner. Just another day in hippieville!
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Chandra Moon
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10/7/2011 8:34:53 AM
---- Updated 10/7/2011 9:10:19 AM
The most amazing line up I ever witnessed was at the Bath Blues Festival in 1970 -
Byrds.
Its A Beautiful Day.
Johnny Winter.
Colosseum .
Jefferson Airplane
Frank Zappa.
Country Joe.
JoeJammer
Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies
Canned Heat
Led Zeppelin
John Peel.
Donovan
John Mayall
Moody Blues
Dr John
Pink Floyd
Fairport Convention
Flock.
Santana.
Keef Hartley.
Hot Tuna
Steppenwolf.
Maynard Ferguson
Mind you - I've never stopped going to festivals and still see so many wonderful artists I couldn't possible list them - the first ever Glastonbury (what I remember of it ha ha) was stunning too.....
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Lieder
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10/7/2011 8:35:15 AM
A couple of weeks ago I saw Roger Daltrey perform the entire TOMMY album and a Who's greatest hits show.
Afterwards I had the pleasure of going backstage and hanging out with him and the rest of the band!
It was an amazing night!
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Diego B
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10/7/2011 11:15:43 AM
It was in the 80's...may be 1986, Neil Young played in Hamburg. The audience was longhaired, middleaged, wearing Parkers, smoking hand-rolled cigarettes...you got the picture? Now...among these kind of crowd, 3 rows before me, there were 2 guys, dressed like SONNY CROCKETT and RICARDO TUBBS, from MIAMI VICE!! I couldn't trust my eyes: White trousers, One guy was wearing Pink and the other guy was wearing a Baby-Blue Blazer, Jesus!! I will never forget that! Many guys were dressed that time a bit like the miami vice guys, but in a Neil Young-Concert? Excuse me... :)
The best concert I've seen recently was Prince on the Waldbühne in Berlin, 2010
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Richard Scotti
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10/7/2011 3:06:29 PM
I saw the first performance of Crosby, Stills and Nash with their new member,
Neil Young. "Wooden Ships" was amazing as was the whole concert. The interplay of harmonies and lead guitar was incredible and the stage was designed as a living room with a rug, couch, lamps, etc.
I saw The Band on New Years Eve back in the day. I was working back stage and saw Bob Dylan who had kept his planned appearance that night a total secret. At the stroke of midnight Dylan strolled on stage as the audience gasped and screamed with delight and surprise. He and The Band did "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and "All Along The Watchtower." What a night! What a way to start the year.
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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10/7/2011 3:53:04 PM
Christchurch again! early 80s
venue : Town Hall
Band; Little Feat with Lowell George still alive!
The audience were seated in rows, with security guards to stop folks going up the front----the band started hot from their first note---and started egging on the crowd
---after a few unsuccessful atttempts with guards throwing out the first dancers the band and crowd simply as one threw off the shackles and everyone stood as one--- and the guards withdrew to safety, Everyone just danced wherever they stood,, the mosh pit was full --so it was dancing in the isles or even just standing in rows, it was bedlum yet felt safe---the conga player was splashing water over the dancers at the front-----we were all one!!!
-------------------simply amazing feeling !!
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Chandra Moon
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10/8/2011 2:24:06 AM
I adore Little Feat!!
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Stoneman
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10/8/2011 4:50:39 PM
---- Updated 10/8/2011 4:57:47 PM
I'll try to make this real short but............
It was the early 70's and my unit was sent to Pear Harbor Hawaii for R&R from Viet Nam. My best friend at the time told me about this new band (Earth Wind & Fire) that was playing at the Sea Shell in Waikiki. One of the members (Maurice White) was his childhood friend and had given him free tickets and backstage passes. So, we bought some wine, reefer, Mushrooms and went to check it out. We laid our blanket out in the middle of the grass and I sat there marveling at this huge stage that looked like a giant Sea Shell situated right by the ocean. I could see Diamond Head in the distance. It was a much different sight than what I had seen in the war zone for the past 8 months. I was so lucky to be alive and able to see such beauty!
A few local bands did there thing for a few hours and then the Sun started to go down. By then I was pretty ripped and primed for a good concert. I had met this local girl who was totally into me (two years later she became my first wife). Anyway, I was having a really good time. As the sky began to darken I saw this light in the middle of the stage. At first it was small but it kept getting bigger. I was high but I couldn't help but notice that the darker it got the bigger the light got. The whole crowd started tripping on it. The entire stage was blackened but that light got bigger and bigger. By the time it was pitch dark out there the light was almost blinding and a bit scary for my taste. Heh heh, could have been the P.T.S.D. I was suffering from or those mushrooms I had chewed up and swallowed. I'm not sure of which but I was about ready to high tail it out of there when all of a sudden this ominous voice came up and said "You are about to witness the three most powerful elements in the Universe" Earth! (I swear the ground below us began to rumble and shake) Wind! (suddenly there was this ferocious wind blowing in my face and I could hear the crowd saying Wooooo) AND FIRE!!!! At that moment the stage lit up with explosions and fire and I would have ran away if not for the girl that was hanging on to me.........And then, the best concert I have ever seen in my life began. That light I had mentioned earlier turned out to be a huge gem stone? or something like that in the middle of Maurice Whites turban on his head. At least I think it was a turban. Throughout the night it changed colors many times and I can't for the life of me (even to this day) figure out how he did that. It seemed to be syncopated with his voice. I mean, in this day and time I am sure the technology exists. But back then???? wtf
Anyway, the sound mix was unbelievable! I have been to and performed at hundreds if not thousands of concerts but I have never seen anyone duplicate the intensity, drama, effects and musicianship that was displayed in that concert. A horn section the rivaled "Tower Of Power" and percussionists and drummers that made the earth shake. Phillip Baily and his five octave vocal range left me in complete awe! As the band played their opening song a guy ran up on stage and tried to get to the musicians. Then, a stage hand ran up behind him and tackled him. While the band continued to play these two guys fought like they were gladiators until one guy grabbed a bottle and hit the other guy in the head. Then, security came up and dragged the body off stage. I was like, Oh My God, was that real? Blood was everywhere until someone came out and mopped it up. All the while the band just kept right on playing like masterful musicians. They seemed totally oblivious to what was happening.
Then, while I watched these musicians I had never heard of play with the precision only dreamed of by most musicians, The Bass player and the Guitar player began to literally fly in the air back and forth without missing a single lick. They went from song to song effortlessly and by the time they were finished the crowd could do nothing but roar with approval. We gave them a half hour standing ovation and they did about 6 curtain calls. I had been away from the states and had not heard their music before. But by the end of the night I knew every song exceptionally well.
Then, my buddy and I went back stage and into a room where I met Maurice White and the whole band. They were so glad to see their buddy that they fed us and took us to the after party at the hotel. We were so tired that they got us rooms because they didn't want us to go back to the base like that. They paid for everything. The next day I watched with tears in my eyes as their limousine sped off towards the airport. They were such genuinely warm and friendly people. No ego tripping at all like so many other musicians I have known. I remember telling Maurice White that I was a musician and he said the key to being a great musician is to love what you do and do what you love.
Anyway, it was hands down the best concert I have ever witnessed. By the way, when the band did their last bow the stage hand, the guy he was fighting with and the guy who mopped up the fake blood came out and bowed with them. It was all staged. When I went back to the Nam I gathered all the reading material I could find about E.W.F.. I decided that one day I wanted to have a band just like them or better. It was a mark too high for anyone to set though. My buddy told me that Maurice had always been into music and magic when they were growing up. Well, he certainly parleyed that into exceptional skill sets.
It is interesting to me that the two most amazing concerts of my life were both in Hawaii in the 1970's. E.W.& F. and the other was Graham Central Station. But I won't go into that one as I have probably taken up enough of your time.
Much Respect,
Stoneman
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Richard Scotti
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10/12/2011 11:45:02 AM
More great concerts I've seen or worked at:
The Cream
Janus Joplin
Sly And The Family Stone
Sun Ra
Blind Faith
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Electric Flag
Eric Anderson
TIm Buckley
Richie Havens
The Lovin' Spoonful
James Brown
Stevie Wonder
The Doors
Bob Dylan
The Band
Wilco
Aretha Franklin
The Rolling Stones
George HArrison
Paul McCartney
Ringo Starr
Crosby, Stills Nash and Young
The Jefferson Airplane
The Incredible String Band
Ravi Shankar
Andres Segovia
And many more....each one has a story too, but you'll have to wait for the book! (LOL)
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Shoe City Sound
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10/13/2011 10:41:31 AM
YES! on the book
D
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Richard Scotti
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10/15/2011 10:28:57 AM
---- Updated 10/15/2011 4:15:48 PM
My biggest disappointment was never having seen the Beatles all together or John Lennon's solo appearances like the one he did with Elton John at MSG.
You can't win 'em all!
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Paul groover
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10/18/2011 10:24:00 AM
Seen The Stranglers for the 5th time at an outddoor event best they ever sounded and they played songs i thought i would never hear again. It was Jet Blacks b-day that day he was 72 still pounding those drums like a 16 year old. I also met a very nice lass from New York very memorable
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Richard Scotti
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10/18/2011 10:53:26 PM
Concert romances are the best!
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Hop On Pop
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10/27/2011 6:09:56 AM
---- Updated 10/27/2011 6:15:58 AM
Okay, so this topic has brought me out of hiding, because I have to tell you about a couple of concerts that I saw that blew me the hell away.
First:
TOM ZÉ 1999 at the Park West, Chicago, IL
It was the 63-year-old musician's first-ever tour of the U.S. He only brought one musician with him from Brazil, and the rest of his backing band consisted of post-rock trailblazers Tortoise. A local Chicago band, which might explain why he started his tour in my hometown.
For a man nearing retirement age, he NEVER STOPPED MOVING. The whole show! It was as much performance art as it was a concert.
For the encore, he rolled out a 15-ft.-long industrial table saw, donned a welding mask, and started sawing away at a piece of sheet metal. The rest of the band then joined in (as sparks flew), and improvised an instrumental around the rhythm established by Zé and the saw.
It was stunning.
Of course, these aren't from the show that I was at (he was in his 70's when these were shot), but it might give you an idea as to what the night was like.
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Magnetfisch
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10/28/2011 3:26:26 PM
@ Silverwoodstudio: Simple Minds and Talking Heads? Cool! Saw Simple Minds a lots of times since!
Other concerts I liked very much: New Model Army, Anne Clark, and Johnny Clegg.
And all the anectodes told here are surely worth remembering 8-)
a truely magic concert I saw was The Cure in Berlin: they played 3 albums in their integrity plus numerous encores: 4 hours plus!
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