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Gerinski 
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Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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 Topic: Unforgettable concert moments
Posted: January 17 2017 at 10:08 |
The thread's title "unforgettable moments" is not very suited to me since I have serious memory problems and often memories only come after some relevant deep thinking or meditating. So surely I've experienced many but they will only come if I get the proper state of mind.
This one was remarkable but not because of its glory, rather the opposite, its sadness. Carl Palmer Band (trio with Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick) at some forgotten rather small German town close to the Dutch border perhaps around 2008. I was living in Belgium at the time and I drove there with a friend, having booked a cheap hotel in the village for the night.
The venue happened to be tiny, something like a town social center where to hold parties or small exhibitions and things like that. The audience turned out to be perhaps 200 at most. The guys played well and the audience was enthusiastic enough, but I couldn't help feel sad seeing the great Carl playing what seemed like a high-school gig.
When the concert was over we stayed around and after a good while, when most people had already left, a big van drove in front of the venue and we saw Carl himself and the other 2 musicians with a little help from a couple of more guys loading himself his drum kit and the other stuff into the van. You know, the star who had had three trailer trucks with their names on the roof moving the equipment around the world, now loading his own drums into a van. That was really sad for me, "this is so unfair" I couldn't help thinking.
A bit later we went to the booked hotel to sleep, and it was really a very humble hotel. Next morning I wake up before my friend and I go downstairs for some breakfast, they served just coffee and toasts with jam. After some minutes I see Carl Palmer coming into the breakfast room and ordering some coffee and start spreading some jam on his toasts. The room was nearly empty and nobody seems to know who he is.
I couldn't help going to my car and picking up a CD of Tarkus I had and came in again and approached him to tell him I had loved the concert the evening before and asked him to sign the CD sleeve. He nodded and signed it but he was clearly not in good mood so I opted for leaving to my table and not disturbing him anymore. He didn't look at me anymore nor made any sign of gratitude or anything.
In summary, I felt really sad seeing a guy who had been at the very top, rated several times as the best drummer in the world, traveled in dedicated jet planes, being driven in limousines, staying at the best hotels... now having to unload and load his gear in a van himself, staying in a nameless village hotel where no one recognized him....
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Barbu
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Posted: January 17 2017 at 09:51 |
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Sitting on the couch one early evening, scratching balls while watching the news. The girl on the screen announced : The first 1000 ticket-holders
to show up at the auditorium will get the chance to attend Peter Gabriel rehearsal tonight (Up tour).
I ran, man, for the first time in years.
Full concert with intro by Bob Lepage. Changed place every 2 or 3 songs and saw the show from every angle (from front row to the highest seats). The official concert, a month later, was great but that one was pretty unbeatable.
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Barbu
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Posted: January 17 2017 at 09:08 |
My type of thread. 
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cstack3
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Posted: January 16 2017 at 22:53 |
Yes, on their "Close to the Edge" tour, Chicago Arie Crowne Theater, September 22, 1972.
The "unknown" band The Eagles opened, and introduced the next band as "Our friends, The Yes!"
Eagles were very, very good....Yes was sublime. I hadn't even heard the LP "CTTE" when I saw them, so imagine my surprise when they launched into the title song!!
I was impressed by the entire band, but particularly by Chris Squire, who was in constant motion onstage, dancing from one side of the stage to the other!! He had a roadie who had to feed out & pull in his bass guitar chord!!
Seeing Squire, thin as a rail, playing bass, singing AND playing bass pedals at the same time was just unreal!!
This is exactly how Chris looked that evening....right down to the thigh-high suede boots!! God, I loved that band!
Edited by cstack3 - January 16 2017 at 22:54
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Progosopher
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Posted: January 16 2017 at 15:34 |
Another one was the first time I saw Jethro Tull, again in 1978. Since Heavy Horses was their latest studio album (Bursting Out was just released), I thought the show was going entail a lot of acoustic and be pretty mellow. Completely wrong? They rocked my socks off. My first ever big concert was the Tubes. They put on a spectacular and elaborate show that simply blew my teenage mind. Peter Gabriel in 1984 was also a highlight. Allan Holdsworth in a small club in Eureka, California. My jaw dropped at the first legato run and did not lift for the rest of the show. Also saw Oregon there, when Collin Walcot was still in the band. And caught John Scofield in an even smaller theater where both he and the bass player broke strings at the same time. That was some hard jamming! Much more recently, I caught Magma at a club in Seattle. Incredible. If I had seen them around the times of the others I have mentioned, it would have been a life changing event. Even at my age and as jaded as I am, pretty darned impressive.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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tboyd1802
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Posted: January 16 2017 at 12:43 |
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For me, non-prog. April, 1978 Little Feat at VaTech. Absolutely fabulous show, and to think a year later we lost Lowell George. I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to see them with Lowell...
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He neither drank, smoked, nor rode a bicycle. Living frugally, saving his money, he died early, surrounded by greedy relatives. It was a great lesson to me -- John Barrymore
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verslibre
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Posted: January 16 2017 at 11:10 |
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Hercules
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Posted: January 16 2017 at 10:09 |
 Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
Magnum - Redcar Coatham Bowl in the 80's, the famous turd in a glass incident. Halfway through the set the band stopped playing and said that someone had stolen a pedal off the stage. They refused to start again until it was returned. Needless to say it wasn't forthcoming. After about 10 minutes the crowd started to get restless and throw things. Plastic glasses of beer or warm yellow liquid seemed quite funny. But we suddenly decided we wanted to leave when a glass with a turd in it flew overhead. We headed for the exits. |
Not nice. But very, very funny.
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A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life.
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presdoug
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 19:06 |
Pat Travers in early December of 1978 at Toronto's Massey Hall, stealing the show from the boring headliners The Outlaws. PT's encore was "Hammerhead" from the then brand new album "Heat In The Street"; I remember him playing his guitar with his teeth like Hendrix, it was really cool. I also saw Boston on their very first tour, in the summer of 1977 at the Ottawa Civic Centre, and had excellent seats, and behind the band was a gigantic fluorescent backdrop image of the debut album cover of theirs. They played quite well. ELP on their first concert in Ottawa, in Jan. of 1993, in a small, maybe 500 seat civic centre, and it was a great show. They opened their set with the Tarkus suite. Loved it when they did a three section jazz trio thing that was awesome, with Keith leading on piano. I missed out on so many great concerts, like Triumvirat opening for BTO in Montreal in August, 1975, as I was a latecomer to prog.
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tszirmay
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 19:00 |
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#1: Gabriel 2nd album
tour in Montreal, a friend and I were waiting near our seats waiting for the
show to begin when a totally bald guy
passes near me, I said: ” Good evening Mister Gabriel! Any new musicians with you
tonight?” He stopped, smiled, and listed the entire group and merrily waltzed
away. My friend, to this day still mumbles” that was Peter Gabriel?!” whenever
we meet. I knew he was bald because I had read that his then wife had an affair
and felt bad about, so she told him and she chopped her hair off. Peter had
shaved his head out of forgiveness, by this time the famed Genesis masks were a
thing of the past.
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I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth.
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BaldFriede
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Joined: June 02 2005
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 18:11 |
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 BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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moshkito
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 16:18 |
Lewian wrote:
Grobschnitt are perhaps not one of the greats of prog, but they were always one of the best live bands around. I saw them for I think the second time in 1985, when in Hamburg after the fourth or so encore after a more than 3h long set they apparently ran out of songs to play, so they just started the concert again by playing the first three songs from the beginning once more. I think we then finally had enough.
... |
I picked up the "Solar Musik Live" CD, that was remastered and it shows how good this band was in concert. Listened to the CD like 5 or 6 times in a row ... that's how enjoyable it was.
As far as concerts? Can't say that I think of many of them as special moments, although I thought that YES was outstanding when they did TFTO at the Long Beach Arena, in either 72 or 73 ... can't even remember!
Otherwise, I would say that Daevid Allen by himself around 75 or 76 when he was in Santa Barbara at The Wolf (a restaurant and small club at the time), was by himself doing "Divided Alien" ... and I think that it was the first time he used that title. He spent his time yapping in between things and played off tapes and by himself solo, on both acoustic and electric. It was very special.
Saw PF many times, but I would not consider those shows special, when compared to the number of bootlegs I used to have, many of which had a lot more interesting and better stuff, although I thought the opening, and the show at the Hollywood Bowl in 1972 was very nice indeed, however, I did not know the majority of their catalogue at that time, though I did have Ummagumma and ATM.
From a curiosity aspect, GONG was interesting. First time with Pip was very jazzy. Second time with Pierre was very strong rock'y. Third time with Chris was very disco'y.
And finally, KC in Seattle with the 3 drummers, was magnificent and a fitting tribute to their catalogue. I spent half the concert with eyes closed ... and it was a tremendous experience and it was very colorful with some amazing small touches here and there to bring it even more alive!
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
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warrplayer
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 16:08 |
Raff wrote:
Dave  !
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Hello, Mistress! Hope your holidays were grand. Just getting ready to treat myself to your best of 2016 article. :) (Apologies for thread hijack. Back to the subject:) Peter Gabriel So Tour Berkley Theater another highlight!
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verslibre
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 14:25 |
Great story, BaldFriede! 
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BaldFriede
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 11:19 |
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Here is another one. I already told this story in another post (with a slight mistake; I remembered the name of the venue wrong), but I will tell it again.
Peter Hammill gave a concert in a suburb of Cologne named Worringen at a venue called "Krebelshof" (I remember the name correctly now). The venue was very small and was usually a disco on weekends. The concert was originally scheduled for the afternoon (it must have been a weekend) but was postponed to the evening on short notice which I did not know about, so I arrived way too early. Since I was there by public transport going back home and returning later did not make much sense; I would only have had a short time at home.
So I stayed and ordered a beer. Suddenly Peter Hammill came out and sat down not far from me, and I decided to talk to him, but not in a "You Peter Hammill, me fan" way; I approached him just as I would have approached any other person. I was around 20 back then and still had my hair, by the way.
We talked a while, and then suddenly Hammill suggested we should go for a walk. We walked down the Alte Neusser Landstraße (which means "Old country road of Neuss") which stretches Northeast in a straight line from that venue for a few kilometers.
We walked slowly and talked about all kinds of things, none of which were directly Hammill-related. Indirectly yes - we talked about things that interested both him and me like math, natural sciences, Zen Buddhism, art, music (but not music of Peter Hammill) and other things.
After we had walked for a few kilometers we came to a bridge behind which the next suburb began, where we decided to walk back. When we were back he gave me a friendly hug.
The whole walk must at least have taken two hours, if not more; I had no watch with me.
After the concert Hammill and I had a beer together (something I forgot to mention in the other post) and talked some more.
This was almost 30 years ago, and I had almost forgotten about the incident when I wrote the original post. This may sound strange, but for me this incident is not filed under "I had a long talk with Peter Hammill" but as "I had a long talk with an interesting person who just happened to be Peter Hammill".
Edited by BaldFriede - January 15 2017 at 19:10
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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
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Finnforest
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 10:47 |
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-Robert Fripp's "League of Crafty Guitarists"
-The Breeders
-Steve Howe solo at a little bar, just the man on a stool. When he sang it was time for a smoke.
-BOC
-Rush, 3rd row in front of Alex on the Grace tour. Amazing.
-Genesis
-Marillion at a club show, a seemingly drunk Fish berating the fans as the band rolled their eyes.
-Babes in Toyland, oh Kat, you Goddess
-Neil Young doing "Like a Hurricane"
-Dio doing Holy Diver
-Metallica totally sucking but being a bit too sloshed to care much.
I'm sure other memories will come back.
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Raff
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 09:55 |
Dave !
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warrplayer
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 09:24 |
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JD
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Posted: January 15 2017 at 06:35 |
Second most memorable moment, ASIA's first concert tour, in my home town London Ont. I went to the venue to try and get my album cover signed and was able to get in for the sound check. I sat a few seats across from the sound desk and watched as the guys came in. eventually I approached the stage for signatures and was able to get them from all. But that wasn't the best part, I had a lengthy conversation with one of my all time heroes Carl Palmer. Having told him I was a sound man he even asked me my opinion on the tuning of his drums. I was in heaven. But then...after I had Geoff Downes sign I mentioned my work with the keyboard duo BUSKER. He got this big eyed smile on his face and said "Come up here, you want to see the new Fairlight I just got?" Upon which he took me onstage to his keyboard castle and proceed to dazzle me with his phalanges fantastique. I though, "this just can't get any better". However as it turned out, when I was sitting in the seats talking to Carl, he had actually been sitting in the seat I had a ticket for. 
Edited by JD - January 15 2017 at 06:35
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Thank you for supporting independently produced music
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Progosopher
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Posted: January 14 2017 at 23:57 |
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Been to lots of great shows, but the one that stands out is Rainbow in 1978 at Winterland in San Francisco. They were actually the middle band. R.E.O. Speedwagon was the headliner. Rainbow played a full set, but without the monster rainbow. Six or seven songs. Lots of instrumental jamming and solo Blackmore work. Me and six friends were towards the back of the main floor. There was no seating. During one of the longer sets, Dio apparently got bored and took his microphone stand apart. After twirling one section around for a bit, he threw it out into the audience. I thought it was going to sail right past us until my 6'4" linebacker friend reached up and caught it. A riot ensued. We had to defend this (un)holy icon. Rather than actually fighting, I got pushed up closer to the stage where I saw Dio smirking at his handiwork. There were lots of really big guys nearby looking at the violence behind them and clearly thinking it might be a good thing to start another riot right there. Some half-naked girl was crowd surfing (and this before that was even a thing). Freaking out, I charged back to my friends, and everything had just quieted down. The day was won and the (un)holy icon was ours! It was now bent because it had been used to defend itself. One of my buds has recently posted a photo of us on Facebook after the show with it, screaming our heads off. We were all in high school. Epic. And the headliner? We stayed for two songs at my insistence but I saw the error of my ways and we left. No one knows where the mic stand is now.
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The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"
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Unforgettable concert moments
