Sunday, March 4, 2012

I'm Feeling 619, But I'm Looking 925!

I got to thinking the other day about the distinct lack of exposure to live music during my lifetime. Why? Just needed something to think about on my morning drive.

Anyways, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I am pretty much an anomaly when it comes to live music, both as a teenager and as an adult.

As a teenager, I saw exactly one concert: AC/DC.

Great first date concert, but because of the fire regulations at the time, 'twas no cannon fired during the finale.

As an adult, it got a little better. I saw quite a few more concerts, and each has a strange tidbit attached to them.

1} Jethro Tull-Broadsword And The Beast tour: I got stuck seeing that one by myself as a friend I was suppose to go with was denied permission by his parental unit. Thus, we took a bus to and from New Haven to seen them perform. Opening act was called Midnight Star, I believe.

2} Wang Chung/The Cars: Don't even remember what album the tour was supporting. Bought the tickets from a cousin's dopey boyfriend when he couldn't go. Went with my brother, lost about $20 and got lost going home from Hartford.

3} The Beach Boys (mid 80's): Went with this flaky girl, which was very surprising since her mother was a major control freak and didn't let her go anywhere.

As the 80's melded into the 90's, the concert experience got better, but not by much.

4} David Hasselhoff at the Big E: To all of my married male readers, sometimes you really do have to bite the bullet and take your wife to see someone you truly loathe, just so that can score some major brownie pints for the rest of the year. 'Nuff said.

5} "Weird Al" Yankovic: Also at the Big E. This was the last time that I went to the Big E, since I found it to be a big waste of money, since because I could not partake in all of the good food being offered.

6} Atwater & Donnelly: Fantastic New England area folk duo that I first heard on WWUH in the mid-to-late 90's. Remains the only original artist that I've seen twice.

7} The Grass Roots: Not the 60's pop band, but the New England bluegrass version.

8} The New England Fiddlefest: Spent a few hours at this festival, which was held at the Bushnell Park in Hartford back in 2000 I believe.

The 2000's became incredibly bad when it came to live music. I have seem to come full circle as the only band I saw twice was a cover band.

9} Shaded Soul (I think that was the name): Decent cover band that a former co-worker of mine fronted.

So my friends, as you can plainly see my live music experience has been sporadic to say the least. I've seen exactly two concerts in this particular century (13 years and counting) and that was four years ago. The reasons as to why aren't many and in fact boil down to three.

Time.
Money.
Health.

The first two are easy to explain but the 3rd is a little trickier.

The joys of being a bad diabetic means that sometimes you can't go to a concert at night because you really have no way of keeping your insulin both cool and your syringe in one undamaged piece.

I suppose I could hit daytime festivals, which would solve number three but not quite solve one or two. In any event, it's definitely something to think about.

To close out this post, I leave you with this two part question.

The title of the post refers to the following items: a song and a band.

The first one to name the both of them correctly can win a copy of my chapbook Betrayed!

Copies are still available for purchase, which would make a great intro to the kind of story that my upcoming novel "Line 21" is all about.

21 comments:

  1. Soon as I saw the title of your post, the melody popped into my head.

    "Outshined" by Soundgarden. My favorite band out of the whole Seattle thing.

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  2. Actually I went to a concert of The Grass Roots, but it was the rock band. Their fame must have been on the wane, because they came to sing at the college in Milledgeville, Georgia when I was a young teenager - the only song I remember is, "In my Midnight Confession."

    I have no clue what those numbers mean and my hat is off to anyone who does. :)

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  3. Chris: We have a winner!

    I agree that Soundgarden was one of the better bands to come out of the Seattle grunge scene, at that c.d. is the only one of Soundgarden that I own.

    Lynn: By the time the 60's ended their fame was definitely on the downside. You'll see them more at revival shows than anything else.

    The numbers in the title of the post are area codes. The latter popped on my telephone at work, which gave me the inspiration for the post. The former simply compliments the latter.

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  4. Sad to say, I have no idea about the songs referenced. #4 - Wow. You are right. That is indeed true love. And I am happy to have my signed copy of Betrayed! from my soon-to-be published friend!

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  5. M: Chris LaTray got the answer to the post title.

    That's okay, sometimes it's a good thing to have an entire genre pass you by. :D

    David Hasselhoff is my wife's favorite actor.

    To whit, she has taped the shows "Knight Rider", "Baywatch" and "Baywatch Nights".

    And thankee once again.

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  6. I remember seeing The Beach Boys at the Yale Bowl one summer, back in the day.

    Music means a lot to me, and I enjoy hearing it live, seeing the art of it actually being created on stage. My last show was Bob Seger last fall.

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  7. Joanne: I enjoy seeing/hearing it live as well.

    I do get a chance to hear it at our local town festivals, but it's only for ten to fifteen minutes at a pop.

    It's pretty cool though, to watch how people experience live music totally uninhibited.

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  8. I hate going to concerts...EXCEPT Weird Al, who is even funnier in concert than on his records. He did about a 20 minute version of Albequerque where he kept adding berry-flavored filled donuts, many of them native to oregon. Hysterical.

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  9. Darth: Weird Al is definitely funny.

    When he came around to the Big E, I believe he was touring in support of his c.d. "Running with Scissors".

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  10. Now you've got me thinking. I need more live music! I've been to a few concerts, but nothing really big.

    Sarah Allen
    (my creative writing blog)

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  11. Live music is so amazing and no matter how few concerts you see, they stick with you. My first huge concert was Elton John back in 1977 in Buffalo, N.Y. Went with my brother and my then boyfriend (now hubby of nearly 32 years). We still talk about what a great day that was from start to finish.

    I'm actually going to a concert tonight with my daughter and can't wait. There are concerts here in our area throughout the summer season and they are a lot of fun even if the bands aren't big headliners. My days of the mosh pits are long over - lol!

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  12. You can't beat 'live' performance! Coming from a 'musical' family it's a given! Our son is the one who caught us by surprise - he'd never do his piano or violin practice but guess who ended up at music college playing bass! (and he's a mean pianist now, too!)

    Many nights with impromptu gigs in our house, filled with his musician-friends - so glad the neighbours appreciated their talent. Mind you - he STOLE my Tanglefoot six-string!

    ....and daughter's just added uke to her musical repertoire; music's in the blood - the Great-grandparents would be so happy! :-)

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  13. Sarah: The size of the concert doesn't really matter, so long as you enjoy the music.

    I've been to venues where it was considered packed with 50 people and nowadays with my daughter, a school auditorium.

    Talon: That must've been incredibly cool to watch and listen to.

    I forgot to add two more concerts that I saw: Billy Idol and Robert Palmer.

    In the summer, when the wind is blowing the right way, I can hear the concerts at the town festival.

    And when I used to live in East Hartford, I was able to hear quite a few concerts drifting in from venues that were miles away.

    Sue H: It's amazing what our children wind up doing when they become older.

    My daughter might wind up the same way. She's currently playing French Horn but is now looking to expand her horizons by taking up the trumpet.

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  14. I went to very few live shows in the 80s and 90s. But I did see Dylan and that was one unforgettable show.

    Great post, G.

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  15. David: I think that Dylan is memorable, no matter what phase he happens to be in at a given time.

    Live music, no matter what type it may be, is really the be all to end all.

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  16. Charles: Having that kind of week, eh?

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  17. David Hasselhoff!!!! OMG. I hope it was worth it! :D That must have been torture!

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  18. Joe: It was pure torture to listen to and experience.

    But the look of pure joy in my wife's eyes was totally worth it.

    And yes, I was golden for the rest of the year. :D

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  19. Pink Floyd (twice), AC-DC (twice), Yes (twice), J. Geils Band, Foreigner, Ozzy (twice), The Who (twice), Rush, Judas Priest, Santana, Journey (twice), Black Sabbath, Metallica (twice), Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jethro Tull, Pat Benatar, Bryan Adams, The Motels, Billy Squier, Red Ryder, Phil Collins... off the top of my head. Had tickets in hand to Led Zeppelin but their drummer John Bonham died a month before coming to Cleveland. That was very rude of him, I thought.

    Of course, back in those days I had more disposable income and seats in the nosebleed section didn't cost 75-100 bucks.

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  20. Gumby: Gumby!!!!

    Off the top of your head, eh? :D

    Nowadays, SRO seats cost about that much.

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