Radiohead

Aug. 23rd, 2003 07:00 pm
As we were walking down the steps to row S, I was thinking, "this is better than I expected." It's almost impossible to get seats that good. Then I was angry when we got to our seats and discovered they were way out to the side. The tickets should have been sold as obstructed view. Even if they are sold at full price, the buyer should have the choice of turning them down. I've got to find out whose fault that was. It turned out that there were enough empty seats that everyone moved down the row towards the center, and our view was decent (but not great). I was disappointed that Jon's electronics racks were lined up down the side of the stage, so all we could see were the backs of them. This sucked because not only could we not see him play them, but they completely blocked the view of the drummer. Not only was I intensely curious about how these sounds were being made, but I enjoy watching drummers work. Oh well. At least we were close enough to make out facial expressions (of the guys we could see).

We were in row S, which was normally the 19th row, but the first twelve rows or so were removed, for a "pit." If we had been in the center section, I'm sure the show would have had that "religious experience" feel to it. Radiohead's music is so... it tends to fill the head. I like to let it wash over me. The stage and light show was impressive. At the back of the stage were some vertical silver beams. These had small lights on them that functioned as a sort of video screen that was capable of simple patterns. Above them were five heavy silver beams with dozens of vari-lites, hanging over the stage like whale ribs. Hanging next to the stage were a pair of very tall, narrow LED style video screens. The video seemed primitive, like it was from those X-10 cameras we used to get spammed for. They were mounted on light rigs and such, and were controlled remotely, so they panned awkwardly to try to keep up with the musicians. Pretty cool.

It was nice to see a band with a real light show. For a while it seemed like that was a thing of the past.

They played for about two hours.

Steven Malkmus and The Jicks opened up the show. They were decent.

It took us an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot. 35,000 people and their cars, and only two lanes leading out.
It seems like my friends all wanted to see Motley Crue, but I wanted to see the Scorpions. Phil and I had seen them several years before and had a great time. I ordered tickets - lawn seats - just a few weeks before the show. The tickets never came. So we went down, and Will Call said they didn't have any tickets for me. They explained that the tickets came in an unmarked envelope which looked like junk mail, and I was a little upset. I was wondering if I'd have to shell out the cash for my friends' tickets, when they gave me tickets anyway. I was very grateful that they did this. I wonder if many people scam them for tickets this way.

Scorpions were not all that great this time. Probably because we were far away in the lawn, rather than down front at the arena. Not only could we not see the band very well, but the sound wasn't that good.

I never liked hair metal, and wasn't looking forward to seeing the Crue. I had pretty much convinced myself before the show, however, that it wouldn't be that bad. Though I didn't much like them back in the day, they couldn't *that* bad. I was wrong. The show was awful. It reinforced everything I hated about eighties hair metal.

Here's a review that I wrote at the time:
They rocked! What more can be said? They just fuckin' rocked. That's what they do. They played all their old hits, like "Shout at the Devil" and "Dr. Feelgood". Even after all these years, they've still got it, because everybody got into it, yelling and waving and everything. They even played a song by The Sex Pistols. Anarchy! Kick ass.

Let me tell you, that Vince McNeil was one bad mutherfucker. He must have been, because of how much he said those words. I know when someone throws around the "F" word like that, he's not someone you want to fuck with. He was a real showman, too, because of how often he yelled to the audience to make some fuckin' noise. He really had a way with the crowd.

Then there was Nicky Sixer. He was a nasty dude too. You should have heard him bad mouth "that other fuckin' radio station that calls themselves Rock, but really plays shit like Nsync." Man they must be a real loser station, whoever they are. Then when he brought out those babes, when he said to show us what the band is all about? And they were like all over each other! So I guess the Crue is all about really wild sex ('cause I know they're not lesbians). Those were some hot chicks, let me tell you. When that one chick was wearing leather and had the whip, and the other one was like, all over her, that was awesome!

Their new drummer, James Carvill, or someone (I didn't quite catch his name), was pretty fuckin' good. He did, like, a ten minute drum solo. They wouldn't even let John Bonham do a ten minute solo. It's too bad Tommy Lee isn't still with them. Back in those days, they were the best. Top of the fuckin' heap. Besides, maybe Pamela Anderson would be one of the dancers. You should have seen when those girls took their tops off! They held them in front of them, but you could still kind of see their titties sometimes.

A band called The Scorpions opened for them. They weren't too bad. They didn't have the raw power of the Crue, and they needed two guitarists, but other than that, they were a good opener. They'll probably be around again.

The Eagles

Jul. 15th, 1994 07:30 pm
Hell Freezes Over!

This show was rather expensive, so Keith and Steve chipped in and bought me a ticket. I remain very appreciative. However, the stub says the show was $40.25. Doesn't seem very expensive these days. Back then, we just complained about these old rock stars and their baby boomer fans who would apparently pay anything to see them.

We were way out in the lawn with about forty thousand other fans. Melissa Etheridge opened up. I'm not a huge fan of the country, but it wasn't a bad show. Keith pissed Steve and I off, by saying "dykes!" repeatedly. He wasn't yelling it, but was definitely loud enough to be heard.

The Eagles sounded good, as I recall. I was most impressed by Joe Walsh and his slide guitar, especially "Amazing Grace." And, of course, his guitar duet with Don Felder in "Hotel California".
Alpine Valley. Second-to-the-last show of the final leg of the Roll the Bones tours. Mr. Big was the opener. I can't believe I had to sit through that band again. I was sitting in my seat doing a thumbs-down, like the guy in the "festival crowd" at the amusement park in This is Spinal Tap.

Yes

Jul. 26th, 1991 08:00 pm
Phil and I had tickets in section 3, the left side, row D (that's the fourth row), 35 seats out from the aisle. We were pretty excited as we walked down front, but were disappointed to find out that the seats were obstructed view. When the music started, however, there were some people missing from their seats, and everyone pushed down towards the middle, so we ended up seeing things just fine.

This was an expensive show, at $27.50.

It was the Union tour, with the combined Yes, the old and new members. Eight musicians on a circular, rotating stage. I wish I could remember more about it. It sounds like it would have been really cool to see. :-\

Elvis

Jun. 7th, 1991 07:00 pm
Another show that I got to see for free, courtesy of my dad's company. Alpine Valley has parking included in the ticket price, but it's more than an hour's drive, so it wasn't exactly free. I was feeling sick that day, too, but it was a concert, so I went.

Great seats at Alpine Valley - row R, center section. I was sitting by myself down there, in a rather sparse amphitheater. The Bodeans opened. At one point, they told everybody to come down front, from the lawn. I thought they were kidding - they may have been - but pretty soon, there were people climbing over the seats past me.

During the break, security cleared them all back out, and Elvis Costello took the stage. He had released Mighty Like A Rose the previous month, but I was completely unfamiliar with him at the time. I'm sure I knew a couple of his early hits, and certainly "Veronica" from 1989's Spike.

On the way home, I decided to roll through the stop sign at our freeway off ramp. Not feeling well, I misjudged the extent of my lawbreaking, and really just blew through it. Of course there was a trooper right there to give me a ticket.

Heart

Jun. 24th, 1990 08:00 pm
A group of us went out to Alpine Valley to see Heart. I no longer have the ticket stub, so I'm not sure, but it could have been June 24.

Rush - Pr

Jun. 16th, 1990 08:00 pm
Rush at Alpine Valley. Presto tour. The first tour of many with the giant dancing bunnies.

The ticket-buying experience is here

A whole bunch of us went. Pam ended up with an extra ticket to sell, and Phil somehow needed one. So I was to meet him by the box office. I drove down with a guy I knew, named Nate. We took an alternate route, and came into the theater from the north, rather than the usual freeway exit. If you do that, you park at the back of the place, near the stage, rather than the main parking lot. I was to meet Phil by the box office. There's no way to get from the back to the front on foot... except climb the hill through the woods. And you're not allowed to go up there. I didn't get caught, but by the time I got to the top of the hill, I wished I had been turned back. I was hot and tired, and waited a while for Phil. He had arrived long before me, got tired of waiting, bought a lawn seat and went in, and sat with us anyway. *sigh*

Mr. Big opened. The audience went wild for their song, "Addicted to That Rush". The only thing I recall about them was when Billy Sheehan used a cordless drill in his bass solo. I hate hair metal. This band was hair metal without the glam.

$26.75, center section, row HH. Good seats at Alpine.

R.E.M.

Sep. 30th, 1989 08:00 pm
The Green Tour. Before I really got into the band. My favorite albums from them are Green and later. Based on the setlist alone, I'm going to say I liked the show. A lot of songs from the latest album, and good ones from earlier albums. I see "Begin the Begin" which is one of my favorite early songs, but I didn't hear it on record until later. Interesting that there are two songs from the album after Green.

NRBQ was the opening act.

setlist )

The Who

Jul. 23rd, 1989 08:00 pm
Alpine Valley saw three nights of the Dead, a night off, and three nights of The Who. I saw the first night of the Dead, and the last night of The Who, and and it rained every other night. There was still water dripping off the roof somewhere near our seats.

The Who used to be four guys plus a keyboardist. This show was a reunion tour in the late eighties - their 25th anniversary tour - when it seemed every old band toured with a whole ensemble, including a horn section and some background vocalists.

This was an expensive show for the time, at $34.75 for row UU, but it was a nice, long show.

set list )
The Grateful Dead party comes to Alpine Valley. I went on the first day of three. It took forever to get in - much longer than usual, which is saying something. On the other hand, getting out was easy - the one time that ever happened - since I was one of the few who weren't camping out there. I felt a little weird as I was leaving the place. Odd, as it was an open air show, and I don't recall feeling anything after their hazy arena show in April. I lucked out with this show, in that it was the only day of the three that didn't have rain (I was sitting in the lawn).

Outside the theater was a line of tents selling trinkets, crafts and food. People were camping everywhere. This was the year after In the Dark and "Touch of Grey" had garnered the band some mainstream success, so the audience was full of "Touchheads". As I had been listening for several years, I wasn't a Touchhead - but still a casual fan.

I had no idea at the time, but the deadheads gush about this show. I found a forum where they're all talking about how special the performance was. All three of these shows are apparently among their best ever, with the following night, when the rain started, the best of the three.

$17.50, lawn.

Let The Good Times Roll
Feel Like A Stranger
Built To Last
Me And My Uncle
Cumberland Blues
It's All Over Now
Row Jimmy
When I Paint My Masterpiece
When Push Comes To Shove
The Music Never Stopped

China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
Playing In The Band
Uncle John's Band
Standing On The Moon
Drums
Space
The Wheel
Gimme Some Lovin'
Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad
Not Fade Away

Encore
And We Bid You Good Night
Johnny B. Goode
A warm summer's afternoon on the lawn at Alpine Valley. A bunch of us guys went down. The Sur la Mer tour. Glass Tiger opened. $17.50

Funny how songs that aren't your favorite, sometimes sound great in concert. I really enjoyed "Legend of A Mind" (Timothy Leary).

setlist )

Boston

Aug. 7th, 1987 08:00 pm
We loaded Steve's parents' station wagon - there were at least seven of us. Me, Steve, Keith, Bill, Brenda, Lisa and a friend of hers. The band did four shows at Alpine - this was the second. The attendance for the four shows combined was reportedly 100,812 Farrenheit, another Boston band, opened.

It was the return of Boston with Third Stage, after an eight year hiatus. Boston's music is great. It all sounds much alike, but it's great. The same can be said for their concerts.

Tom Scholz had some sort of cast or brace on his leg. Some guy puked, in the row behind us. And it took forever to get out of the parking lot.
My friend Mike won tickets and a ride to Alpine Valley on the QFM "Party Bus". It was Deep Purple Mark II on their Perfect Strangers Tour. Blackfoot opened, and we walked into the amphitheater when they were playing their last song.

I think this was when I first realized that the opening riff to "Smoke on the Water" was not guitar, but organ. I always loved John Lord's Hammond work, but this show cemented that. I was never a huge fan of Ritchie Blackmore, and this show cemented that. They had lasers. Blackmore did a solo inside a green pyramid of laser light.

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