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not a show, but a choose-your-own-adventure-esque reaction at a show:
band: the pixies
date: 12/11/04
place: hammerstein ballroom in new york city
as i blogged (shut up) the next day,
'david bowie (david bowie!) was sitting 20' to our right at the pixies show on saturday. that's unquestionably within underwear-throwing range. faced with a heartbreaking choice when he took off before the first encore - watch godlike band, chase godlike icon? - i opted to stay put. i can only report, then, that he wore a hoodie and sneakers, rocked out for "caribou," and picked his nose through "u-mass." thanks to jodi j, i saw the pixies again tonight: naturally they played the song ("gigantic") i would have missed while weeping and crawling after ziggy stardust. crap.'
the grammatically incorrect lesson is that one should never not throw one's panties at david bowie.
August 26, 1990 - Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI
This was the last show of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He was on the bill with Eric Clapton and Robert Cray. Buddy Guy also played that night. I actually had comped lawn tickets for that night, but I had just finished a 3 day run with the Dead - Brent Mydland had just died after the last at Tinley Park, IL - and I thought I needed to get my head together. Too much of the white blotter that weekend.
July 23 1983 - Comiskey Park, Chicago
IL
The opening of the US Synchronicity tour. On the bill - A Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jett, Ministry, and The Fixx. I honestly think that the ticket price was six bucks. My friend Dave went, and while I really probably could have found the six bucks for that shit, I was gay. Instead, my Police tour was realized 20+ years later with some knucklefuck who later claimed it sucked.
3-Mar 1988, Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
I was just getting into Zappa at the time and I remember he was also doing a voter registration during this tour. I'm pretty sure this was his last full-on tour, but I remember being in college in central IL and listening to Chicago radio interview with him and thinking that I should just truck on up and see him. I know Zappa doesn't compare to the musical complexity of The Lemonheads by AJS standards. Thankfully.
These are two that I know I could have, and SHOULD have attended, if only I'd gotten my shit together:
Hot Snakes @ The Middle East, Cambridge, MA, November 14, 2004. Their final tour. I was living there at the time, but for some reason or another I skipped the show. I think I was "too tired" or something lame like that.
The Breeders @ TT the Bear's, Cambridge, MA, April 6, 2003. Again, I think I wussed out for no good particular reason. My friend even offered to buy a ticket for me.
There's tons and tons of shows I would've wanted to go to if only I'd known about them at the time. These two, though, are the only ones I KNEW about and flaked on.
First: The Cure, August 5, 1987 Fairfax, VA at the Patriot Center.
Sad truth behind this one is that I had tickets. I've seen the Cure on every tour since The Head On The Door Tour in 1985...usually at least twice. This was not the case during the Kiss Me Tour of 1987. . This was the only show I was able to see given I had just started a new job, fresh out of high school. So why did I not go? BECAUSE OF A WOMAN! I had just started dating a girl and this happened to be her birthday. So, like a dummy, I chose the girl of over The Cure. What an idiot. Last year marked the 20th anniversary. My wife thinks I'm insane, but it did scar me for life.
The Smiths
Aug. 5, 1986
Great Woods, Mansfield, MA
I'd only caught on to the band *just* after they'd toured for Meat is Murder. But this, as it turned out, was the last time they would perform anywhere near me.
The reason I missed the show? Pre-season double-session practices for varsity football, which were of course miserable. Though I'd have had to run penalty laps and been screamed at, I should have just blown it off.
For years, I have kicked myself more than anything for not going to this show.
Set list:
How Soon Is Now?
Hand In Glove
I Want The One I Can't Have
Still Ill
Frankly, Mr. Shankly
Panic
Never Had No One Ever
Stretch Out And Wait
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Cemetry Gates
What She Said (with Rubber Ring intro and outro)
Is It Really So Strange?
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
The Queen Is Dead
/Money Changes Everything
/I Know It's Over
//Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
///Bigmouth Strikes Again
I did on the other hand manage to sneak out without full permission from Mom to this one a year earlier - still ranks as one of top few shows ever.
U2 - Unforgettable Fire tour
April 18, 1985
Worcester Centrum, Mass.
check out this shit:
Gloria, I Threw A Brick Through A Window, A Day Without Me / Dear Prudence (snippet), I Fall Down, MLK, The Unforgettable Fire, Two Hearts Beat As One, Seconds, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Cry, The Electric Co. / Little Drummer Boy (snippet) / Amazing Grace (snippet), A Sort Of Homecoming, Bad / Norwegian Wood (snippet) / Ruby Tuesday (snippet) / Sympathy For The Devil (snippet), October, New Year's Day, Pride (In The Name Of Love)
encores: Party Girl / Auld Lang Syne (snippet), I Will Follow, 40 / Do They Know It's Christmas (snippet) / We Are The World (snippet)
comment: I Fall Down is performed for the first time since 12 November 1984, and this turns out to be its last performance ever. I Threw A Brick and A Day Without Me are also performed for the last time.
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