Neil Young and the International Harvesters: 9/15/1985

I remember this performance clearly; the only thing I don’t remember about this concert was who I went with. Obviously, I was focused on Neil.

The International Harvesters were a country band backing up Neil on this tour, which was cool because they played a lot of acoustic tunes that went over really well, such as “Heart of Gold,” “Old Man” and “Helpless.” And even the more intense Crazy Horse tunes, like “Down by the River” and “Powderfinger” actually sounded really good with the country flavor.

I am a huge Neil Young fan and would see him multiple times after this with Crazy Horse, but I have to confess that it was very cool seeing him with this configuration. There is something about Neil’s country-style music that just soothes my soul.

Here is the setlist. Long may Mr. Young keep playing music for us.

Setlist:

• Country Home
• Comes a Time
• Lookin’ for a Love
• Heart of Gold
• This Old House
• Southern Pacific
• Interstate
• Sugar Mountain
• Helpless
• California Sunset
• Nothing Is Perfect
• Field of Opportunity
• Down by the River
• Old Man
• Powderfinger

Encore:

• Get Back to the Country
• Grey Riders

Alice Cooper and Vinnie Vincent Invasion: 12/31/1986

I had basically seen this exact same show three days earlier at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, but I could not pass up a chance to see the Coop again, especially on New Year’s Eve.

I went with a woman I was dating at the time, Christine, and I painted my face up as Alice. Figured I would get my full fan-boy on. I knew a lot of people who were going this night, including my brother and our friend Jon.

Vinnie Vincent was kind of a joke the second time around. I literally burst out laughing at one point when he did his best Karate Kid kick and knocked over the same dummy amp from the other night. Oh well, at least he tried.

During intermission, Christine and I went and met up with my brother and Jon in the lobby area. Now there was this one section in the lobby where some stairs were above, and the headroom as not that high. A basketball player would have to duck, for sure. Well, we were hanging out there, and Jon decided to have a little fun with some inebriated headbangers. “Hey,” Jon said, “I bet you can’t jump high enough to touch the ceiling there with your head.” They would not walk away from a dare, and proceeded to jump up and down, clonking their heads on the cement above them. It was humorous, and I suspect they woke with a splitting headache the following morning.

After a long intermission, Alice took the stage. The show was exactly the same as the WPB show, which, if I am being honest, I had hoped he would have at least thrown one or two treats in there for NYE, but still, it was a great show, even if it was the same.

Here is the setlist, in case you missed it from my last post. Rock on!

Setlist:

• Welcome to My Nightmare
• Billion Dollar Babies
• No More Mr. Nice Guy
• Be My Lover
• I’m Eighteen
• The World Needs Guts
• Give It Up
• Cold Ethyl
• Only Women Bleed
• Go to Hell
• Ballad of Dwight Fry
• Teenage Frankenstein
• Sick Things
• I Love the Dead
• School’s Out

Encore:

• Elected
• Under My Wheels

The Moody Blues and The Fixx: 9/29/1986

Here is a great example of why it was cool to be around in the 70s and 80s. You could go and see two cool bands for a mere $16.50. I’ve spent three times that much just for parking at concerts these days.

Anyway, I had seen the Moody’s the night before in Miami, but I figured, “Why not go see them again?” Supposedly The Fixx opened at the Miami show too, but I don’t really have any recollection of that concert. This one I remember better. I went with my friend Carlos and we had a great time. While the West Palm Beach Auditorium was not nearly as intimate as the Knight Center in Miami, it was cool because you could walk around and pretty much do what you wanted. It was a very laid-back venue.

Nothing really extraordinary to share about this show. I was able to locate the setlists online, so here they are. Enjoy!

The Fixx Setlist:

• Lost Planes
• Saved by Zero
• Built for the Future
• Secret Separation
• Are We Ourselves?
• Treasure It
• Deeper and Deeper
• One Thing Leads to Another
• Red Skies
• Stand or Fall

The Moody Blues Setlist:

• Gemini Dream
• The Voice
• Rock ‘N’ Roll Over You
• Tuesday Afternoon
• Your Wildest Dreams
• Isn’t Life Strange
• The Story in Your Eyes
• It May Be a Fire
• Reflective Smile
• Veteran Cosmic Rocker
• New Horizons
• The Other Side of Life
• I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
• Nights in White Satin
• Legend of a Mind
• Question

Encore:

• Ride My See-Saw

Neil Young: 2/6/1983

This was my first time seeing Neil Young, and I was really psyched. Neil was such a huge influence on me as a young guitarist (pun intended). He was performing two shows at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, and I don’t recall why, but I only got a ticket to see him on the second night.

The Knight Center was a great venue in downtown Miami, relatively small and with great acoustics. There was not a bad seat anywhere in the house.

This was a solo tour in support of the Trans album, which had come out the previous year. It was just Neil by himself with various guitars, harmonicas, keyboards, and a banjo. He took his time, selecting what instrument to play, and seemed 100% comfortable on stage. And he played for a long time, not shying away from songs that usually have a full band (“Powderfinger” and “Down by the River” come to mind).

I would go on to see Neil multiple times in the future, including four times with Crazy Horse, but this first time seeing him holds a magical place in my heart.

Here’s the setlist, and may Neil keep on rockin’ for many more years.

Setlist

• Comes a Time
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
• Down by the River
• Only Love Can Break Your Heart
• Soul of a Woman
• Are There Any More Real Cowboys?
• Cowgirl in the Sand
• My Boy
• Helpless
• Dance, Dance, Dance
• Southern Man
• Don’t Be Denied
• The Losing End
• Cortez the Killer
• Powderfinger
• Ohio
• Sail Away
• After the Gold Rush
• Transformer Man
• My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
• Mr. Soul
• Sugar Mountain
• I Am a Child
• Computer Age

The Moody Blues: 9/28/1986

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this show. It was part of the “Other Side of Life” tour. I’ve seen the Moodys numerous times, and it is hard to differentiate most of the shows. I suspect I may have gone with my former room mate Mike, since he was also into the Moody Blues, but I can’t confirm that.

Anyway, I did find the setlist online, and I’m sure it was a great show. Wish I had more to share. Rock on!

Setlist:

• Gemini Dream
• The Voice
• Rock ‘N’ Roll Over You
• Tuesday Afternoon
• Your Wildest Dreams
• Isn’t Life Strange
• The Story in Your Eyes
• Painted Smile
• Reflective Smile
• Veteran Cosmic Rocker
• The Other Side of Life
• I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
• Nights in White Satin
• Legend of a Mind
• Question
• Ride My See-Saw

John Fogerty: 10/22/1986

This was one of those embarrassing memories. I was pretty psyched to see John Fogerty, but unfortunately, none of my friends shared my enthusiasm, so I ended up going by myself. Since I was alone and bored before the show, I spent a little more money at the beverage booth than I probably should have. The first act came on, and I became very aware of that certain unease in my stomach, so I made a rapid dash to the bathroom and actually made it into a stall (which thankfully was clean). After getting quite sick, I made it back to my seat and sat there alone, not feeling all that well.

Fogerty came out, and he sounded good. I remember hearing about five songs, and then the next thing I knew, I was being awoken by a man with a broom, the harsh lights jarring my brain: “Time to go home. Concert’s over.” I looked around and I was the last person there, except for the staff cleaning up. I dragged myself out of the venue and went to the bus stop. I tried to console myself with the fact that I did get to see a few songs, but honestly, I was feeling pretty depressed about the whole affair.

Oh well, these things happened at concerts back in the day.

Don Henley with Katrina and the Waves: 8/2/1985

In the 1980’s, before “Hell froze over” and the Eagles reunited, Don Henley had a pretty successful solo career. Despite his popularity, I wasn’t a huge fan of his music. It was OK, but a little on the pop-side for me. I probably would have passed on this show, but my girlfriend wanted to see him and I liked Katrina and the Waves (the opening act), so I figured why not.

Katrina was so fun. I really enjoyed her set. She was cute, cheerful, and energetic, just like in the “Walking on Sunshine” video which was playing on MTV about every hour. Her set alone was worth the price of admission.

Don Henley’s set was good. It was about what I expected. He played mostly his solo stuff with a few Eagles’ tunes tossed in (Witchy Woman, Desperado, Hotel California). It wasn’t great, but it didn’t suck either. It was OK. Basically, a fun date-night with the girlfriend.

When The Eagles reunited and I was the outrageous amount of money they were charging, I was disgusted and refused to go out of principle. At the time, concerts were still pretty cheap (hey, $15.75 for this show), so the idea that a band would charge over $100 for a ticket was insane for me. Unfortunately, once the bar was raised, it became the norm. Personally, I still can’t bring myself to pay that much money for a single band—a festival, ok—but not a single act.

Anyway, rant over. Have a rockin’ day and enjoy some music.

Emerson, Lake & Powell: 10/5/1986

Keith Emerson was my favorite keyboardist of all time, and sadly, he died yesterday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. So, I figured it was appropriate to write about one of the times I saw him perform.

I was never fortunate enough to see Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but this show was pretty close. For the tour, Cozy Powell replaced Carl Palmer on drums. Powell is no slouch on the drum kit, and he was probably the best person to fill in.

The concert was nothing short of spectacular. The set included a nice mix of pieces spanning ELP’s career. Some of the high points were “Pirates,” “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and “Fanfare for the Common Man.” But the pinnacle of the show for me was the encore, which included “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression Part 2.”

“Karn Evil 9” is from the Brain Salad Surgery album, which is one of my all-time favorite album. Throughout the years, I’ve owned multiple vinyl copies, CD, cassette, and have even owned it on 8-track. It is just a phenomenal album. So how can I convey what it was like to see Keith Emerson perform this?

The band rocked through “Karn Evil 9,” and then Emerson went into a wild solo on the keyboards. He was like a madman! He was soloing, and then turned around and continued playing backwards, not missing a beat. He then extracted a pair of daggers from his belt and stabbed them into the keys, holding and sustaining notes while playing over the sustained notes. Then he hoisted the keyboard onto his back and began running around the stage playing the keys backwards and over his shoulder. I was floored! I had never seen anything like it, and I have never seen anything like it since. It was almost beyond belief.

Keith Emerson will be sorely missed. He was a virtuoso musician who pushed the boundaries of rock music. Here is a video of him performing. Be inspired!

Neil Young and Crazy Horse: 10/29/1986

I had gone to see Neil and Crazy Horse the night before (click here for my memories of that night). I don’t recall as much about this night as the first night, but there are a few things that stand out.

I had second row center for this show, so I was very close to the stage, and the Knight Center was a small venue anyway. Neil and the band played two sets, just like the first night, and mixed up the songs a bit, which was nice. But this evening, there was a special guest.

To appreciate this guest, I need to talk a little more about the stage show. The stage was set up as a garage, which is fitting since Crazy Horse is a garage band par excellence. On the first night, while the band was playing, there were mock phone calls between songs from an irate neighbor insisting that they turn down the music. This was the same during this show, but the voice was different, and familiar, but I could not place it. Even the words sounded familiar: “AHHHH!! OH! OH! Turn that shit down! I’ll come over there and kick your ass, you fucker! AHHHHHHHH!”

When the “irate neighbor” stormed into the “garage,” I immediately made the connection. It was the great comic Sam Kinison, aka the screamer. He got in Neil’s face and screamed obscenities at him while Neil responded by turning his guitar up louder. It was hysterical, and very rebelliously rock and roll.

I had brought a camera in with me (yes, this was before the days of cell phones with built-in cameras). Here is the picture I snapped of the late, great Sam Kinison getting all up in Neil’s grill.

Rock on!

Neil Young and Crazy Horse: 10/28/1986

I love Neil Young, and while this was not the first time I saw him in concert, it was the first time that I saw him with Crazy Horse. They were scheduled to play two nights at Miami’s James L. Knight Center, so I planned on going both nights. My friend Chris decided to go with me to the first night, so we camped out in front of Record Land and got great seats. Although the ticket says Row B, it was actually front row center! I also got myself a ticket for the second night, but that’s another story.

Chris and I went to the show, along with his then wife, Helene. We took our seats front and center and were very psyched, Neil came onstage with the band and thundered into their first set. They were loud, heavy, everything I expected from Crazy Horse. I looked at Chris, who appeared to be as psyched as I was, and then I noticed his wife, slumped in the seat, asleep. And I was not the only one who noticed this. Neil Young walked up to the front of the stage, looked at her, cranked his guitar a little louder, played a bit, came back, looked at her still asnooze, shook his head, and went back to playing. It was… strange.

They took a break, at which point we tried to wake Helene, but she was out like a light. When the second set started, Neil checked on her again, shook his head, and continued to jam. I wondered how it must have felt, to be playing with all your might, rocking your heart out, and seeing someone in the first row snoring away. It did not seem to faze Neil too much though. The second set was even better than the first. He rocked right up until the final note of the encore.

When the concert was over, Chris and I had to carry his wife out. He lifted her from under the arms and I got her legs. But she decided this was the right time to wake up and started kicking at me. So I dropped her. She got to her feet and had some very unpleasant things to say. I have to say that Chris was very supportive, offing to assist his wife, but she was being pretty nasty. I guess we all have our bad days.

In spite of everything, I had a great time at this concert, and a great story to tell afterwards. But I had a ticket to see them again, the next night! Check back soon for my thoughts on the second night.

“Hey Hey, My My. Rock and roll will never die.”