Lynyrd Skynyrd: 5/29/1988

So as you can see from the ticket, this concert was supposed to have been held at the Miami Baseball Stadium, but was instead moved to the infamous Hollywood Sportatorium. I was on the fence about going, for a few reasons. First off, they were not the original Skynyrd, although they had most of the originals, along with Ronnie’s brother on vocals:

Lineup

• Johnny Van Zant – vocals
• Gary Rossington – guitar
• Ed King – guitar
• Randall Hall – guitar
• Billy Powell – keyboards
• Leon Wilkeson – bass
• Artimus Pyle – drums
• Lacy Van Zant (Ronnie and Johnny’s father) – tuba for one song
• Toy Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band – fourth guitar to some songs

The second cause for hesitancy was that fact that, living in South Florida, I was subjected to the raving fanaticism of redneck adoration to Skynyrd on an almost daily basis. Finally, I was not crazy about the Baseball Stadium. In spite of all that, I bought a ticket, and felt somewhat relieved when it was announced they were moving the show to the Sporto.

The Gary Rossington Band opened the show, and got the crowd pretty riled. Rebel flags were waved with pride, something that made me feel less than comfortable.

When Skynyrd came out, I have to confess, they sounded good. Seeing Ed King up there was a treat, and Billy Powell’s keyboard playing was as great as ever. While I never considered myself a fan of the band, I did know every song that they played, which always makes for a good concert experience.

When the band played “Free Bird” as the last song of the evening, Johnny opted not to sing, and just hung his hat on the microphone stand, and the band played an instrumental version to which the crowd sang along. It was actually a nice, sentimental gesture.

Anyway, here’s the setlist. Rock on!

Setlist:

• Workin’ for MCA
• I Ain’t the One
• Saturday Night Special
• Gimme Back My Bullets
• The Needle and the Spoon
• That Smell
• The Ballad of Curtis Loew
• Things Goin’ On
• Swamp Music
• I Know a Little
• Gimme Three Steps
• Call Me the Breeze
• What’s Your Name
• Comin’ Home
• Simple Man
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Free Bird

The Police with The Fixx and Eric Burdon and the Animals: 10/28/1983

As the ticket stub shows, this concert was originally supposed to be at the Miami Baseball Stadium. But because of the huge demand for tickets, the concert was moved to the Orange Bowl, a much larger venue. Even in the big stadium, it was a packed mob scene.

I went with my girlfriend at the time and my brother Mike. We got there plenty early, since it was general admission and I wanted to see The Animals, who were opening the show. The Animals were great and Eric Burdon’s voice was strong. The only downer song was “House of the Rising Sun.” They kind of changed the arrangement around and it felt like they were playing it half-assed. I felt like, really? I’m sure you are getting tired of the song, but if you are going to play it, at least put some energy into it and realize that it is such an iconic song that futzing with the arrangement  is akin to Led Zeppelin playing a reggae version of “Stairway to Heaven.”

The Fixx played next, and they were cool. They had some hits at the time: “Saved By Zero” and “One Thing Leads to Another.” They definitely had a good energy and light show. Plus, their style fit in well with The Police.

So I have to say that The Police were way better live than I expected. They always seemed more like a studio band than a good live act. But I was pleasantly surprised. They were really high-energy and sounded great, even in an acoustic hell hole like the Orange Bowl. My big complaint, though, was the overcrowding. It was really uncomfortable to be mashed among so many people sweating in the South Florida heat for the entire day. But other than that—good times!

Here is the Police’s setlist, courtesy of setlist.fm:

1. Voices Inside My Head
2. Synchronicity I
3. Synchronicity II
4. Walking in Your Footsteps
5. Message in a Bottle
6. Walking on the Moon
7. My God
8. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Tea in the Sahara
11. Hole in My Life
12. Spirits in the Material World
13. Invisible Sun
14. One World (Not Three)
15. King of Pain
16. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
17. Every Breath You Take
18. Murder by Numbers
19. Roxanne
20. (encore) Can’t Stand Losing You / Reggatta de Blanc
21. (encore) So Lonely

Heart and Blue Oyster Cult: 4/19/1981

While the stub only lists Heart and Blue Oyster Cult, there were several other bands at this all-day rock fest:

• Firefall (don’t ask me how they managed to get on the bill)
• Motorhead (they were cool)
• Freewheel (a most forgettable act)

So a little bit about the Miami Baseball Stadium. Back then, Miami had no professional baseball team. The stadium was a dump that was used by northern teams for spring training. And occasionally, they would book a large show there. Since I was a huge BOC fan and I also really liked Heart a lot, going to this concert was a no-brainer.

As I mentioned, Freewheel was completely forgettable, and if it wasn’t for the wonders of the internet, I would never have even been able to tell you who was the first band that played. But Motorhead was very good. They rocked and got the crowd riled up. Unfortunately, Firefall sucked all the energy out of the crowd. It was kind of like being on a musical rollercoaster.

Finally, BOC came out. This was right before they released Fire of Unknown Origin, so they were still a powerful force in rock music. I had seen the Cult before, so I knew what to expect, and they delivered, tearing through a set of hits like “Cities on Flame,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and “Godzilla.” During “Godzilla,” a huge Godzilla monster emerged from behind the stage, shooting menacing red lights from its eyes and breathing clouds of smoke. It was impressive.

Heart took the stage and proved that they deserved the headliner slot. They totally rocked! I was in the stands at that point, having spent most of the day on the open field and desperately needing a break. I remember feeling the stands trembling under the concerted stomping of feet as Ann and Nancy Wilson kept the crowd rockin’ after a long day of music.

It’s kind of weird to think back on this show, which was almost 35 years ago. Makes me feel old. But, one good thing about being old is that I was able to go to see great shows like this for less than what TicketMaster now charges as a “convenience fee.”

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to go out and see some live music!