I have plenty of memories to share from my days in radio and seeing great live concerts. Here’s just a small sampling.
DECEMBER 1982- THE WHO-ROSEMONT HORIZON (now called Allstate Arena)
Friends and I were sitting in the first row of the upper level right behind the stage and pretty much on top of the band as they played. Perched there, we enjoyed pretty much the same view out to the crowd as Pete Townshend and company had. So The Who is wrapping up “Baba O’Riley,” their third song of the night with lead singer Roger Daltrey huffing and puffing on his harmonica, Townshend on his Fender Telecaster and John Entwistle thundering on bass guitar. “Baba” rolls to its close, the crowd goes nuts and Daltrey in the midst of the applause, gives an underhand toss of his harmonica to a young woman a couple rows away from the front of the stage. She catches it and from our view we spy her priceless reaction to landing the harmonica. Clutching it firmly, her face was beaming and streaming tears of excitement. It was a really cool moment and my friends and I kept commenting on how this fan will never forget such a special night!
Fast forward five and a half years. I was producing the Miller and Howell Morning Show at 105.9 FM, Chicago’s classic rock station WCKG. It was summertime and we were hosting a nighttime listener party on a large passenger boat cruise on Lake Michigan. John Howell’s band was playing, everyone who won passes to the party was dancing and the drinks were flowing. Between band sets, I was talking to a couple of female listeners about music and concerts when one of them shared the story of the time she scored a great keepsake at a Who concert back in December of 1982. You guessed it! This woman was the same fan who caught Daltrey’s harmonica after he rocked out “Baba O’Riley!” I laughed and told her where I was when that happened and how my friends and I noted her priceless reaction to that happening. That was quite a coincidence to meet up with that particular fan, years later and have her recall such a cool incident.
Like comedian Steven Wright once said, “It’s a small world…But I still wouldn’t want to have to paint it.”
OCTOBER 1991 JOHN MELLENCAMP AT THE RIVIERA THEATER
At the time I was executive producing the Murphy in the Morning Show at WKQX, Q-101. John Mellencamp was a guest on the show one Friday morning and he talked up his new single “Get a Leg Up” from the just released “Whenever We Wanted” album. So after his visit with us, word got out that Mellencamp and his whole band would be the “surprise” opening act for his record label mates, Material Issue that night at the Riviera Theater. I was lined up a pass for the gig and sat in the first row of the balcony’s reserved section. The house lights went down, the place was packed guts to butts and the Indiana born rocker’s band took the stage. The next sound we heard was drummer Kenny Aronoff as he gave a few stick taps to his cowbell. I immediately thought, ‘That sounds like the opening to “Honky Tonk Woman.” Sure enough more drumbeats followed and the whole band joined in with their parts. Next, out strolls John Mellencamp, lit cigarette in hand and he grabbed the microphone to sing “I met a gin soaked barroom queen in Memphis.” The whole theater exploded with roars as we were treated to a searing cover of a rock classic! Lisa Germano’s fiddle gave the tune a great twang and it may be the best show opening song I’ve ever witnessed. During his forty minute set Mellencamp ran through some of his hits including the new cut “Get a Leg Up” and he added another cool cover, Free’s “Alright Now.” The set ended with “Pink Houses” which blew the roof off the joint.
After a short intermission, Material Issue played their show. Two songs in, lead singer Jim Ellison asked what the crowd thought of that opening act. Everyone shouted their approval and Jim dryly said he’d put in a good word for Mellencamp and see if he could land the guy a record deal.
FEBRUARY 1993 THE BO DEANS AT THE VIC THEATER
The BoDeans were playing a three night stand at The Vic and I was at the first two concerts. The band was working on new material and near the end of their show we got to hear two of those fresh tracks. The first was a rowdy stomp that had Sammy Llanas singing, playing his guitar and having to blow out some notes on a harmonica. Llanas didn’t have a harp holster strapped to his neck so a stagehand came out on cue to hold the harmonica to the microphone while he did his thing. Despite being an unknown song, the crowd went nuts for it. That tune was “Closer to Free” which was on their album “Go Slow Down” and became the theme for the TV series “Party of Five.”
The second new song was a frantic rocker and I remember the chorus Llanas belted out was something about “Lay down, lay down and feed the fire.” This was another tune I wanted to know more about and when “Go Slow Down” came out, we got to hear more of the sexual innuendos of the song “Feed the Fire.” Later that fall, the BoDeans would perform that cut on Late Show With David Letterman. It was their best ever live performances on TV as Sammy and partner Kurt Neuman melded so well with Paul Schaefer and Letterman’s great band of players.
So that’s just a few of my favorite live music memories and I have more to get into down the line.
NEXT WEEK’S BLOG: For those over the age of 50.