Geez, I have seen so many concerts, it’s really hard to recall which were the best, so here are five particularly memorable ones in no particular order:
Duran Duran, Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 1988: Before you laugh, you have to know why it was my favorite. Yes, their glory days (if there ever were any) were long gone, but my then-girlfriend and I had lawn seats, and it rained like hell, so we buried ourselves under a couple of blankets, one thing led to another, and . . . yeah, I have no clue what songs, if any, the band played. Nice memory, though. Oh, and Erasure opened up, and they were pretty damned good.
Paul McCartney, Cleveland Stadium, 1989: My only chance to see one of my personal music heroes in person. The concert was one of the first to use a “lottery system,” handing out numbered wristbands one day, then drawing a random number the day of sales, with that number being first in line. I was, like, tenth in line for wristbands. Unfortunately, the starting number was about 20 numbers after me, which put me near the end of the line. We did, however, get to wait in line next to a woman who had seen the Beatles at Cleveland’s Public Hall in 1964, so we had a great time chatting with her. We ended up with seats in the lower deck, but way the hell back. And you know what? It was great. It was McCartney’s first major tour since “Wings Over America,” the show opened up with a retrospective film by Richard Lester, he had that great band with Hamish Stewart and Robbie McIntosh, and he performed not only the great Wings and Beatles hits, but one of my favorite album tracks, “Things We Said Today.”
Matthew Sweet, Shooters on the Water, Cleveland, 1992: Matthew Sweet was at the height of his indie-rock hero status at the time, and this was a small club in Cleveland down in the flats. Unfortunately, he didn’t take guitar heros Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd, who played on his albums, on tour with him, but he did take former Voidoid Ivan Julian, who is just as good. The best part of any Matthew Sweet show is that he throws in some well-chosen covers. At this show, he made the audience guess the song from the first couple of bars before he’d play it. The covers included L7’s “Pretend We’re Dead,” Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer” and “She Said She Said” by the Beatles. (At another Sweet show, at which Go-Gos Jane Weidlin and Charlotte Caffey opened up and had a rough time with the audience, he invited them back out to do “Our Lips Are Sealed.”)
The Posies, Peabody’s DownUnder, Cleveland, 1990: Early in the year, I had heard on the local “alternative” station this song, “Golden Blunders.” The song should have been listed in the dictionary under “Beatlesque” (so much so that it was later covered by Ringo Starr). When I found out who it was by, I went and picked up their CD, “Dear 23,” and went to see my friend Chris. We listened to the album in amazement–we didn’t think they made bands like this anymore! A few months later, we were listening to the Sunday night DJ on WMMS 100.7 (you ex-Clevelanders remember when the Buzzard ruled, right?), and they were giving away some tickets to a show, and I called in and won. It turned out the be the Posies, at a club down in the Flats. Chris and I attended, and damned if those guys didn’t rock. I mean, they flat out rocked. Less texture than on the album, but a lot more power. Since then I’ve become a loyal buyer of their albums, imports and B-sides, I met them at a show in Pittsburgh, and I think they’re the best unsung band ever.
Smashing Pumpkins, Babylon a Go Go, 1991, and Gund Arena, 1995: The Babylon was a tiny club on West 25th Street in the Ohio City area of Cleveland. I remember the night the stage collapsed, much to the surprise of the band playing at the time. It’s gone now, but I saw the Pumpkins there just before they hit big. “Gish” was just out, “Soma” was getting some limited radio and MTV play, and they were touring clubs. All I really remember about them is that they were really loud. Then, of course, “Siamese Dream” was a smash hit, as was “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” When that one came out, I was working at WKNR, and our GM gave me tickets to the company loge at the arena. The show was the Pumpkins with Garbage opening. I couldn’t believe this was the same band I had seen in this tiny club four years ago. They were so much more refined. Plus, one of the salespeople from the station was entertaining a client and expensing all the food and drink, so my friend Jennifer and I got free pizza, beer and snacks all night.
