Is It Live or Is It Memorex?
I’m of an age that I should’ve seen a lot more great live music performances than I have seen. I missed Monterey Pop, Woodstock, The Texas International Pop Festival. Never been to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Never made it to see The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and many others who are no longer “live.”
Peter, Paul, & Mary
But I’ve seen some good stuff, and have some great concert memories. So, here’s my list of most memorable live concerts performed in a concert venue:
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Peter, Paul, & Mary, Dallas Memorial Auditorium, c. 1965 Memorable because it was my first concert ever. My pal Will and I went with his older sister.
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Three Dog Night, 1970 Memorable because it was the first concert I ever went to with a date, Suzy. Our one and only date.
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Brian Wilson, Smile concert at Nokia in Dallas, 2006 A historic event, one-of-a-kind, and it sounded wonderful, thanks to The Wondermints.
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Elton John/Steely Dan at the Cotton Bowl, 1973 A girl I happened to know, Gloria, happened to have a DJ brother who happened to have some free tickets, third row center. I jumped at it. It was a chance to see the great showman Elton John (not a “Sir” yet) at his peak, but even more it was a chance to see a band I’d just started getting into, Steely Dan, as their second and best album was coming out. Skunk Baxter riffing out on “My Old School,” Donald Fagen snarling through most of the songs from the first two albums. I knew it was something special, even though I had no idea at the time that there would be few opportunities to see Steely Dan live for years to come. I never saw Gloria again either.
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Bonnie Raitt/Tom Waits, Austin 1975 I happened to be dating this girl who happened to be, along with her best friend, the biggest Bonnie Raitt fan in town. They were first in line for tickets and dragged me along, front row center at a fairly small venue (Bonnie was not yet that well-known). Bonnie was great, but her opener was something like nobody’d ever seen. Tom Waits came out in his threadbare suit get-up, finger-poppin’ while he scatted his beatnik lyrics. Ten feet away, in all his bizarre glory. I didn’t know what to make of this fellow, but rushed out and got his first and only album, Closing Time, and got the rest as they came out over the years.
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The Who, Dallas Memorial Auditorium, 1970 I went with my friend Tim, both of us pretty square-looking but trying to look hip by roughing up our shortish hair. The Who played for three hours: much of Tommy, most of Live at Leeds, and various others. Tickets were $6.
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Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds tour, Smirnoff Center, 2003 My pal John Wilson got tickets to this undersold spectacle, the Smile band recreating live the great album Pet Sounds. They all sounded great, except that Brian sounded a little stilted, sitting center stage at a little electric keyboard. He was fixed on a spot off to his left through every song. We were wondering what the hell he was staring at till we figured out he was reading the lyrics off a clear teleprompter.
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Sly and the Family Stone, Fort Worth, 1972 The show was short, Sly was late. As usual. But the band makes some of the best music ever made, and I loved every minute of it. (Even though my roommate had dropped some acid before the show and was immersed in paranoid delusions the whole time.)
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Bud Shank, Kemah Boardwalk, Houston, 2006 Memorable because of the perfect setting: jazz outdoors on a warm Texas evening, viewed from a third-story deck outside a restaurant. And Bud, in his seventies, could still blow!
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Devo, Wintergarden, 1980 I liked Devo quite a bit, and this was a fun show. The music playing on the P.A. before the show was Muzak versions of Devo songs, and the “opening act” was a series of Devo music videos. Then the band came out and did their thing. Groovy!
Seeing good music performed live is one of my favorite ways to spend time. I did miss some of the greatest bands, but have also attended some great concerts.
1) Frank Zappa & the Mothers, Armadillo World Headquarters, in Austin 1976. Great old venue for seeing all kinds of bands that came through. Got some great shots of him, one pointing straight at me while I snapped the picture. He probably thought I was some media guy since I had a telephoto lens, not real common at the time, but legal back then.
| Posted 1 year, 5 months ago2) David Crosby Dallas 1974, The show was at Cardi’s, with a fairly small audience. Larry Davis & I were on the second row, me on the center isle. Flashes weren’t allowed, but I did manage to get a couple of low-light shots before he went back stage for a break…and never came back. After waitning for about 45 minutes, a Dallas police officer came on stage and told us that Mr. Crosby would not be returning that evening.
3) Michael (pre-Martin) Murphy, Tracy Nelson, Rusty Wier, Jimmy (pre-Island)Buffett, David Allen Coe, and others, 1974, Nacgodoches Country Jam. Two days of “progressive country” music performed in a cow pasture. Buffett did songs like “Come Monday” and “Pencil-thin Moustache”.
4) Queen, 1978, Baton Rouge. Freddie Mercury climbed up to the top of the tower of speakers wearing black leather pants and no shirt. I got a pic of him bent over with his back to the crowd, looking back and pointing to his butt, singing “Fat-Bottom Girls”.
5) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 2006, Dallas at Smirnoff. The only time I’ve been able to get tickets up front. We we on the second row center, with only a few official types holding down the front row. The music and experience of being up close were great, then Stevie Nicks came out and sang a few with the band. Spectacular!
As I recall, Mr. Crosby’s trouble with the law arose from a firearm he wasn’t discreet enough with.
| Posted 1 year, 5 months agoI’ve seen Frank Zappa, too, and it was a fun-filled show.