Among Kate’s graduation presents is a ticket to the Rolling Stones show coming up in July here in Detroit, at the baseball stadium during the All-Star break. No, I won’t be going, too — I already saw the Stones, coincidentally in the first days after my own high-school graduation 40 damn years ago. I recently ran across a photo of the event on The Plain Dealer website. I’m stealing the photo with great guilt, because I couldn’t figure out how to link to just the picture, and I wanted the impact of seeing it right here on this page in all its gray monumentality:
Photo by Robert Dorksen, The Plain Dealer.
Cleveland Municipal Stadium, June 14, 1975. The “Tour of the Americas,” a fairly snooty name for a Stones show, but if you were facing a crowd like that night after night, you might think you were some sort of Lord McDonowrong, too. Anyway, I don’t remember much other than that the crowd was so huge and thirsty and toilet-flushy that there was zero water pressure in the fountains. This being before everyone went around with huge water bottles all the time, I was feeling woozy in the heat in no time at all. I went to the first aid area, took a seat and said, “If I don’t get some water, I’m going to need some first aid.” They gave it to me, took my blood pressure, had me sit a bit and drink a little more, then released me back to my seat. I don’t recall much of the show, except for “Fingerprint File,” sung by a tiny figure way off in the distance who might have been Mick Jagger, but in those pre-Jumbotron days, who’s to say?
But I left with what I came for — the ability to say I’d seen the Stones. If you’d told me that night that in 21 more years I’d give birth to a daughter, and that she too would see the Stones in the first days following her high-school graduation, I’d never, ever have believed you. But life has symmetry that way.
Man, look at that crowd. Insane.
Kirk’s wife once told me an incredible story about crowds at Cleveland rock shows. It has a terrifying setup, which I’ll try not to gloss over too much, but basically: She and a friend were kidnapped, more or less, one night in Cleveland. I forget whether they invited two strangers into their car or they forced their way in, but basically, they thought they were doing two guys with a broken-down car a favor and almost immediately realized they’d made a terrible mistake, as the guys either showed or said they had a gun and directed them on a long, terrifying route through some very dodgy neighborhoods. They didn’t know if they were going to be raped, murdered or both, and it went on for some time. Then, abruptly, they were both put out of the car and the two guys sped away. It was very upsetting, of course, and the police came, there was an investigation, but nothing came of it. Almost a year later, she was at a big show like this, in a crowd that was being herded like cattle toward a gate, with another crowd coming the opposite way for some reason, and in this sea of faces her eyes lit on one and it’s THE GUY. He looked right at her, and she knew he knew who she was, but before she could even open her mouth, the crowd swept them both in opposite directions and she never saw him again. Freaky.
I’ve also been neglecting my Saturday Morning Market posts, not because I’m not spending time there, but because WordPress’ mobile app will no longer let me post custom photo sizes, and the posts were getting all fubar with huge pictures, and I just didn’t care enough to do them after I got home. But I really want to show you this bike:
The guy who owns it is one of those dyed-in-the-wool, no-bullshit, back-to-the-landers-in-the-middle-of-Detroit folks. He and his wife sell all year, specializing in sprouts. They don’t own a car, but they own this bike-truck thing. I think he said it was custom-made for them, or maybe not — anyway, it’s European. The middle section is where the cargo goes. The kids — they have two — have their own trailer and they may even have more add-ons. I wonder how that thing is geared.
Finally, here’s a story to turn your head inside out, about a 78-year-old man on trial for having sex with his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife in her nursing home. Just when you think you’ve heard every detail you didn’t want to think about, about pulling those nursing-home curtains around beds for privacy, etc., it gets into some interesting discussions about consent, about how we’ll live our last years, and of course, yet another area in which the baby boomers are changing things.
Another late night last night. Man, I gotta stop this stuff. Happy Thursday — the weekend draws nigh.
beb said on April 16, 2015 at 8:05 am
As I get older I’ve found that I get oppressed being in large crowds. Obviously this isn’t normal. I can’t imagine being in such a huge crowd. But now you’ve established a family tradition so 30 years from today when Kate’s first child graduates from high school heir graduation present can be a ticket to the holographic Stones’ concert…
The “truck-bike” is fascinating. I wonder how you balance the thing getting started.
A 78 year old man can still get it up? But that’s no excuse for trying to force sex onto his demented wife.
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Suzanne said on April 16, 2015 at 8:17 am
I heard about the old guy basically raping his wife in the nursing home. It about made me sick. Gimme a break on the “guys have needs” crap. Wonder if he was a nasty frat boy back in the day who went around having his way with girls too drunk to know what’s happening. GEEZE, buddy, your wife is incapacitated & your sexy time is over. Deal with it! I hope they throw the book at him.
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Julie Robinson said on April 16, 2015 at 8:57 am
We know a guy who runs a small construction company with a similar bike. He limits the geographical area he serves and has lumberyards deliver large loads, but otherwise exists without a vehicle. When you think of the stereotypical construction guy and their pickups, it’s refreshing.
Did I mention he lives in Portland? With his chickens and bees?
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nancy said on April 16, 2015 at 9:38 am
Without passing judgment on the husband in this case, the story gets into some fairly nuanced discussion of elder sex issues in institutions like nursing homes and assisted living. I found it fascinating. I think Atul Gawande’s new book talks about this a lot — how nursing homes are basically built and run to please the children of old people, not the residents themselves. The best ones are starting to institute reforms designed to cater more to residents, and this includes sexuality. I found the Hebrew Home administrators’ comments particularly interesting.
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Kirk said on April 16, 2015 at 10:08 am
I’ve never seen the Stones but wish I could say I had. They’re coming to Columbus at the end of May, but the idea of going to a rock concert in a football stadium with 80,000 other people doesn’t sound too appetizing anymore, so I guess I’ll miss ’em. In fact, I plan to be in a reconditioned horse barn in southern Ohio that night, seeing the New Riders of the Purple Sage for the first time in more than 40 years.
http://www.flingbarn.com/
P.S.
My wife saw the Beatles.
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nancy said on April 16, 2015 at 10:19 am
We had a staff retreat a year or two ago, and one of the icebreaker questions was to go around the table and talk about the first concert you ever saw, and the best. It was an interesting way to see which generation all of us come from. So we go around the table and the circle ends at our founder, who’s in his 70s and was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford back in the day. He, too, saw the Beatles. “At a little club in the East End of London,” i.e., before they were famous. There’s dead silence, and then somebody said, “Mic drop,” and we all burst out laughing.
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Bitter Scribe said on April 16, 2015 at 10:29 am
The guy who owns that bike must have thighs like tree trunks.
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basset said on April 16, 2015 at 10:37 am
Mic drop?
This compulsive list of Beatles performances http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_Beatles%27_live_performances would suggest that the London club gig happened on December 9, 1961, the night after they played a ballroom, also in the London area, where the promoter hadn’t advertised and basically nobody showed up. They were a pretty big deal before they played around London again.
Meanwhile… first concert, Jerry Lee Lewis at the high school gym in Washington, Indiana. Best, probably Yes at Louisville Gardens on the Topographic Oceans tour. Muddy Waters, Buckwheat Zydeco, Bobby Rush and Sam Chatmon in a cut-over cotton field outside Greenwood, Mississippi is right up there, though.
I saw the Rolling Stones in Bloomington on that same tour, the stage was shaped like giant flower petals and, at the larger venues, the show began with the petals opening and the band inside. At Assembly Hall, they started with the petals open, the room dark, and suddenly a spotlight on Keef up on one point hitting the first chord of “Honky Tonk Women.” Coolest thing ever. The Crusaders opened, I remember Larry Carlton broke a string mid-solo and just kept going. The ticket was $8.50, which I thought was just way too much, since I was making a dollar-sixty detasseling corn at the time.
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Julie Robinson said on April 16, 2015 at 10:41 am
Does Carole King at the IU Auditorium count? I don’t think I’ve ever been to a real rock concert. I have been to a lot of wonderful theatre, ballet, and symphony concerts though.
At our staff retreat we had an icebreaker about favorite music styles, and I held back a little, deciding not to mention that I can’t stand country. Sure enough, the next person said she looooves country! Those icebreaker questions can get you in trouble.
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basset said on April 16, 2015 at 10:45 am
Well, there’s country, and then there’s the overprocessed, market-researched crap that comes out of Nashville now. I love the real stuff but could not name you a single Toby Keith song.
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alex said on April 16, 2015 at 10:47 am
Sister Sledge, Heatwave and GQ in Columbus, Ohio, May or June of 1979.
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BigHank53 said on April 16, 2015 at 10:49 am
The cargo bike is a bakfiets, which is Dutch for…cargo bike. They’re not as heavy as they appear since the cargo box is made of plywood. Usually under eighty pounds. Keeping the weight low helps the stability a lot. They’re not any harder to ride than a regular bike once you get get used to the huge wheelbase.
They use standard mountain-bike drivetrains, which have really low gear ratios available these days.
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adrianne said on April 16, 2015 at 10:51 am
Peter Frampton, 1976, Frampton Comes Alive tour, at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Opening acts: J. Geils Band and Lynrd Skynrd. I went on a bus with fellow giggly teens that was sponsored by my friend’s Catholic church youth group. A cloud of pot smoke descended over our seats early and never let up.
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Kirk said on April 16, 2015 at 10:56 am
What Basset said.
Didn’t see a real concert until first year in college: Sha Na Na followed by John B. Sebastian. After Sha Na Na got everyone fired up, Sebastian came out with only himself and his little amp and was basically pissed that the crowd wouldn’t calm down. He played three songs and walked off. Crowd control was absent; we watched Sebastian from behind, sitting around Sha Na Na’s drum kit.
Best probably is first time I saw Pink Floyd, at the Blossom Music Center, an excellent outdoor venue near Akron.
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Judybusy said on April 16, 2015 at 11:37 am
I’ve never really seen a huge concert, and saw tiny local bands my first year in college. Then dad lost the farm, and I was working. I have a vague memory of seeing UB40 in NYC in 1984. My most memorable was an Ornette Coleman concert in Minneapolis around 1994-5. And Philip Glass in Madison a few years earlier. And of course, just last fall, Lisa Fischer, who Kate will get to see with the Stones. I gushed about that show here.
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Sherri said on April 16, 2015 at 11:38 am
When I read about the husband and the wife with Alzheimers, it seemed to me that the daughter was unhappy with the husband doing much of anything with her mother. It appeared like the daughter had set up all the terms of care without much regard to the husband. There could be many reasons for that, but it feels like there’s more going on than an horny old dog.
But maybe I’m influenced by having recently read the Atul Gawande book Nancy references. I highly recommend it. It changed the way I think about late in life care, by giving me a way of articulating the choices to make.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 11:43 am
Not rock, but my first concert was Peter, Paul and Mary.
I went to the Stones Bridges to Babylon concert at the then new domed stadium that my husband designed. It had really good acoustics. Basset, Keith Richards did the same thing with a totally dark surround and then the opening chord when the spot was on him. He was wearing a long leopard skin cape which he shrugged off later when he got steamed up. The stage was connected to a little island by a bridge that projected out, and when they danced over that and got to the island they were deluged with panties and bras.
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Connie said on April 16, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Best is a two way tie:
Bob Seger at the Brewery Bar in East Lansing, $2.00 cover. His name was just getting known. In that smaller setting that man had charisma.
Harry Chapin, Whiting Auditorium, Flint, in a blizzard.
His band and truck were snowed in in Illinois. About 200 of us made it to the concert. He had a borrowed guitar, sat down on the edge of the stage and told us to ignore that reserved seat stuff so come on down front. Whiting is one of those grand opera hall with boxes kind of places.
First: Does seeing The Cowsills with your Dad count? otherwise Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. HS senior on Grand Valley campus in that round roofed building that was later ?condemned? Collapsed?
Commander Cody had one big hit song that you know, even if you don’t know it was him. Yes you do.
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alex said on April 16, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Hot Rod Lincoln. I confess, Connie, I had to look it up.
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Kirk said on April 16, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Connie, I saw Commander Cody in the aforementioned horse barn two years ago and had a chance to talk to him. Very entertaining. And he had several hits.
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Bob (not Greene) said on April 16, 2015 at 12:17 pm
My first concert as a teen was a triple bill — Thin Lizzy, Climax Blues Band and REO Speedwagon (during their “You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish” tour) at Alpine Valley in southern Wisconsin. But the first rock concert I actually attended was the “farewell” concert of The Ides of March (their big hit was “Vehicle,” you know, “I’m the friendly stranger in the black sedan so won’t you hop inside my car [cue the horns] ba da da da da da …”) in the gymnasium at Morton West High School in Berwyn where the guys in band all went to high school before they made it big. The band members were all from the neighborhood and the singer, Jim Peterik, married a girl who lived across the street from us. Peterik went on to co-write the song “Eye of the Tiger.”
Best concert? That’s a tough one. I completely avoid big stadium type shows and haven’t gone to one since I was in college (the last one might have been Yes at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, in the round no less).
A couple of memorable ones were Talking Heads and Psychedelic Furs in the gym at John Carroll University my freshman year of college in 1980; Muddy Waters and Robert Junior Lockwood at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland in 1981; the first time I Billy Joe Shaver (with his magnificent guitar playing son, Eddie, who died of an overdose a few years later) at a bar in the city where I live; The Blasters, during their reunion tour in the early 2000s (they hadn’t lost a beat); and just a few weeks ago, my main man Deke Dickerson backed by a Chicago trio called The Modern Sounds.
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Sherri said on April 16, 2015 at 12:22 pm
First concert was Bob Dylan at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in 1981. Best concert was Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, CA in 1985, in no small part because I was sitting outdoors in beautiful California weather!
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basset said on April 16, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Just about any native Midwesterner of a certain age has seen REO Speedwagon at least once… for awhile there it seemed like either REO or Wet Willie opened every show in town. Remember seeing them for free at Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute one Sunday afternoon when I was maybe sixteen, would have been about the time of REO TWO and they rocked, none of that power ballad stuff till later.
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beb said on April 16, 2015 at 12:48 pm
I have been to very few concerts. The first, I think was Frank Zappa at Norte Dame ( don’t believe he played Catholic Girls. The best is a toss up between a Neil Young rock concept at the Palace of Auburn Hills. First time I could feel the music in my chest as well as hear it. And other was a Neil Young Acoustic tour at the Fox.
In the ‘mic drop’ category was a late seventies comedy concert my wife and went to featuring Martin Mull. After Martin had come out and done his set this other guy, also named Martin came out. I don’t know if we had heard about him before then or not. But it was Steve Martin. And he ruled.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 12:49 pm
Best concert: U2, Pop was the name of the tour in the 90s, can’t remember the exact year. I think of it as the best concert because they had this stage background that showed animation but sometimes you could see right through it to what was behind. I was blown away by that technology at the time.
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alex said on April 16, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Bob Not Greene–
Jim Peterik is doing smooth jazz instrumentals these days and has a Todd Rundgren-ish sound, at least on this single.
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MichaelG said on April 16, 2015 at 1:00 pm
I’m back home from the hospital and feel pretty good. I hope this is the end of it.
Here’s a cargo bike similar to your friend’s. A lady rode past my house the other day with a kid in the box. The bike is way big.
https://metrofiets.com/
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Joe kobiels said on April 16, 2015 at 1:22 pm
First, James Gang in Fort Wayne
Best J Geils right before they hit big. Close second Allman Brothers.
Pilot Joe
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Jolene said on April 16, 2015 at 1:57 pm
My first concert was not rock, but electric blues: John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, somewhere in Winnepeg in 1969. Best was a tie: Janis Joplin in Seattle in the summer of 1970 (I think) and Elton John, also in Seattle, on his first U.S. tour in the early 1970s.
My concert-going career was short. Since then, I’ve mainly gone to smaller concerts in clubs or concert halls. There was a great performance space in Evanston, IL during my graduate school years. Can picture it at, I believe, the corner of Main and Chicago. Saw several concerts there in the 1979s. Can anyone remember the name? Most memorable was a very young Randy Newman, who, now 71, is still performing.
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Sherri said on April 16, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Glad you’re home, MichaelG, and hope your recovery continues to go well!
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Judybusy said on April 16, 2015 at 2:49 pm
Here’s to a speedy recovery, MichaelG!
This has been a fun thread today.
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LAMary said on April 16, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Jethro Tull at the Fillmore East in 1970.
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Bob (not Greene) said on April 16, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Alex @26, that is some straight-up Muzak right there. MichaelG, I must’ve missed a thread because the last I saw you were wandering around Barcelona. In fact, yesterday I was wondering, “Did MichaelG get kidnapped by the gang of Catalan outlaws?” Hope you’re doing better.
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elaine said on April 16, 2015 at 3:11 pm
The Commander Cody song, whence my grandson got his name. One of my son’s favorite songs when he was little.
Had my son been a girl, we were determined to name her Aja in honor our favorite album from our favorite band. Instead, we named him after a wily old coot of a farmer that we knew.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 3:58 pm
MichaelG, glad your home and feeling better.
My husband continues to go to Bob Dylan concerts. The last concert I went to was Sigur Ros at LollaPalooza in Chicago a couple of years ago. Never going to that venue again, it was hell, hot and stinky. I love Sigur Ros though, I was introduced to them through the movie Heima, which is fantastic.
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Kirk said on April 16, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Yes, Joe K., would have to rate the Allman Brothers, in 1971 before they started crashing their motorcycles, as another of my most memorable. Little, if no stage patter; just great playing. Of course, they were all on smack at the time.
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brian stouder said on April 16, 2015 at 4:29 pm
What Sherri and Judyb said!
I think you can count on the fingers of both hands how many big-time concerts I’ve been to, including at Deer Creek north of Indy, and Fort Wayne’s grand ol’ Embassy….but not at the coliseum.
The #1 best thing I’ve ever seen is easy to name, though.
A fellow I work with won tickets off of Rock-104 (now 96.3, but we digress) for a Thursday night show at Purdue at West Lafayette, Indiana, and he didn’t want to stay up late on a work night – so he gave the tix to me, for free.
Pearl Jam – live – and in the relatively intimate confines of the music hall at Purdue (not larger than the Embassy in Ft Wayne)
Before the show began, Eddie Vedder drawled to us the news that there had been a bomb threat, and – if anyone wanted to exit, they were welcome to.
The crowd roared, and the concert began, and it was sublime!
Caught
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Charlotte said on April 16, 2015 at 4:40 pm
First concert — Grateful Dead at Alpine Valley (I loved Alpine because I get claustrophobic in crowds and could hang out way way up the hill). Best surprise at a concert was Elvis Costello in Dublin in 1984 — my buddy Adam (also from Chicago) and I went because we heard T-Bone Walker was the opening act. When a tall skinny white dude came out we were totally confused. T-Bone Burnett. He was forgettable, but Elvis was good …
I’d love one of those cargo bikes, but don’t really need one. Have a few Portland folks I’m “friends” with on FB who are dedicated family bike folks —
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Suzanne said on April 16, 2015 at 4:54 pm
Saw Earth Wind & Fire at IU back in the day. I couldn’t hear very well for a couple of days after the concert. I saw Harry Chapin in Fort Wayne, too. He was very good.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Here’s a bad photo of the backdrop at the U2 Pop concert that I mentioned earlier. At the time it was the largest LED screen ever and as I said the thing was translucent at times, that’s old hat now, but back then it was wildly, outrageously, high tech http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_(U2_album)#/media/File:U2_PopMart_Tour,_Belfast,_August_1997_(01).jpg
Also, at #35 I should have said “you’re” not “your”. I hate it when I do that.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Sorry, that link didn’t go to the photo, try this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_(U2_album)#/media/File:U2_PopMart_Tour,_Belfast,_August_1997_(01).jpg
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Oh well, you can scroll down to it if you’re interested.
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CW said on April 16, 2015 at 5:24 pm
First: The inevitable REO Speedwagon in December ’74 at the Ft. Wayne Coliseum. (With Kiss as the opening act!)
Best: Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town tour, Nov. 78 in Milwaukee
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Colleen said on April 16, 2015 at 5:38 pm
First, Beach Boys, Memorial Coliseum in 1984 or 85. Now they are coming to the Fort this summer and playing the Foellinger Theater. Best would be hard to say. I saw Mel Torme once when I lived in Kansas. That was pretty cool. But my favorite group is Manhattan Transfer, so it would have to be one of the many shows of theirs I have seen. Not rock, not cool but it’s what I dig….
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David C. said on April 16, 2015 at 6:17 pm
First: Genesis at Grand Rapids Civic Auditorium, 1976.
Best: U2 at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, 1981, I think. Their first US tour, I think.
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LAMary said on April 16, 2015 at 7:14 pm
(obligatory brush with fame)
Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and Santana, all at the same concert, and I had a backstage pass. Twice.
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Bill said on April 16, 2015 at 7:17 pm
I can’t comment on big concerts like most of you, but one I remember was Stan Kenton at the U. of Illinois in 1959 with my (now) wife. We also saw a poetry reading by Robert Frost. I took my son and some friends to Alpine to see Chicago in 1976. Lotsa pot smoke.
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Deborah said on April 16, 2015 at 7:22 pm
A poetry reading by Robert Frost, is a thread win in my book.
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Sue said on April 16, 2015 at 7:50 pm
I tried reading Gawande’s book and didn’t have the same reaction that it seems everyone in the world has. I thought some assumptions crept through that maybe he didn’t intend, such as referring to the days when the youngest daughter stayed home to care for aging parents as ‘easier’. This happened a couple of times in the book, and I also found the assertion that nursing homes and assisted living were there to calm the fears of seniors’ children kind of insulting.
I just thought there was an undertone that wasn’t respectful of everyone’s place in an aging parent’s world.
I also was kind of turned off by Roz Chast’s book, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant. It might be a clear-eyed look at aging from an adult child’s viewpoint, but it felt to me like a massive invasion of her parent’s right to privacy about the horrors of aging.
Haven’t been to many concerts. Saw Emmylou Harris at Ravinia once.
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brian stouder said on April 16, 2015 at 7:54 pm
I think Deborah makes an insuperably good point in 48 above
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Dorothy said on April 16, 2015 at 8:05 pm
I can’t stand the Stones. I wouldn’t go if the tickets were free and included a recliner in the first row. I’ve seen Bruce thee times and they were all spectacular. Loved Huey Lewis and the News, Billy Joel, Earth Wind and Fire, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Martin, Nickel Creek, Glen Hansard and a few more.
I’m in a funky mood. Went to a funeral back where I lived for six years cuz a 53 yr old former colleague died unexpectedly. She was a fun friend. MichaelG I hope you’re feeling okay.
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Dave Kobiela said on April 16, 2015 at 8:10 pm
Pilot Joe forgot to mention that big brother Dave took him to see James Gang at Allen Co. Coliseum. My 1st concert too, and 1st time ever smelled pot. Passed that hooter right on down the line, took not even a puff! (A few years later, different story).That J.Geils show was really a good one. Ft. Wayne Rugby club was doing security. Joe an I took a $50 bill from a roadie, drove Joe’s 4WD Chevy down to liquor store for some encore/dressing room refreshments for the band.
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Dave said on April 16, 2015 at 8:34 pm
Does Herman’s Hermits at the Ohio State Fair in maybe 1967 count? Certainly not as great as seeing most of the groups listed above but that was my first concert attended with anyone famous. It was the following year I saw the Smothers Brothers with John Hartford and Pat Paulsen running for president, campaign of 1968.
I’ve known two people who actually saw The Beatles, I’ve been eternally jealous.
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Dexter said on April 16, 2015 at 9:08 pm
I have seen too many big-name shows to list, so I’ll comment on just two little points: 1) The absolute best song I ever saw performed, one that seemed to have all 80,000 of us in The Pontiac Silverdome linked spiritually in the moment, was when Bruce Springsteen belted out “Cadillac Ranch” in 1985. I have come close to that feeling, but that night I really felt the true meaning of rock and roll…it was out of body out of mind or some damn thing. I never forgot that song that night.
2) I took my wife and a friend and his wife to see Bob Dylan in 1978 at what used to be called Centennial Hall in Toledo. We had excellent seats, Dylan had a huge group backing him up. However, Bob did no oldies, and really, no newer tunes most could recognize. Here’s the strange part: my friend’s wife was in my class at school. Now she was no dummy, but she turned to my wife and asked, “who’s Bob Dylan?”. At age 29, she had been oblivious. Now that was unforgettable, mostly because her husband was a record collector and an avid listener of music. And she went to see Bob Dylan never having heard the name.
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Dexter said on April 16, 2015 at 9:22 pm
Colleen, The Beach Boys played the old Coliseum in FWA in 1975 as well. It was dead-of-summer, and hot as hell in there. I remember taking my shirt off, something I just never did, so it was that hot alright. I remember Dennis Wilson was bloated from his alcoholism but he kept beat just fine on his kit. Mike Love was in fine voice and Brian Wilson was pacing the songs on bass. Al was there, but I just can’t see Carl Wilson in my recollections…but he certainly was there.
The Wrecking Crew actually played most of the studio music when the boys recorded. Brian (the leader, no question) took a while to get used to that concept, then accepted it.
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Sandy said on April 16, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Saw the Stones in the early 90’s. A huge blow-up doll preceded “Honky Tonk Woman.” Just returned from chaperoning an 8th grade field trip to Cleveland’s Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, which showcased many Mick Jagger costumes. He must be a small man. I highly recommend the Hall of Fame. I had WAY more fun than the 8th graders.
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Joe K said on April 16, 2015 at 10:35 pm
I saw B.B. King in Bloomington with my wife and 2 daughters, they bought me tickets for my birthday, he was great, but the funniest thing was the young girl behind me asking her boy friend, who’s the Lucillle he keeps talking about?
Yeesh!!!
Pilot Joe
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 16, 2015 at 10:46 pm
MichaelG, huzzah! Grace and peace and healing mercies to you.
Gordon Lightfoot, Chicago, 1979 was my first concert ticket-wise, with either Harry Chapin or Jimmy Buffet the next year at Purdue (which I saw first I can’t now recall). Best concert is a three-way tie between Carrie Newcomer or Arlo Guthrie at the Vogue in Indy, or John Prine and Bonnie Raitt together at Clowes Hall on the Butler campus, all mid-80s.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 16, 2015 at 10:51 pm
The deucedly awful thing about the nursing home NYT story is that it’s a late-in-life second marriage at play (they married in 2007), and the woman’s daughter from the first marriage is not happy with the now-widower, who is not her dad. It’s awkward all around, because with dementia it isn’t constant (sundowners or slow-awakeners, you see either direction of the coherence arrow), but it reads to me that the care plan is being driven by the daughter, and the husband….well, he seems no prize, but I’m trying to imagine what happens when you know your spouse is in and out of coherence and lucidity, but is still showing physical attraction to you. It’s an angle on consent I hadn’t thought about, and I’m in three or four nursing homes every week.
Thanks for the link, discomforting though it is. I’ll use it Saturday in a pastoral care/visiting workshop I’m doing at our church.
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Beth Backus said on April 16, 2015 at 11:05 pm
No real “rock” concerts
First: Three Dog Night, early seventies
Best: Neil Diamond, early eighties
(December, no opening act, HE stayed on stage with pianist and sang Christmas carols while he gave his band an intermission)
Last: Billy Joel and Elton John, ten or more years ago
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Bill said on April 16, 2015 at 11:08 pm
Forgot to mention that Muddy Waters lived in Wesmont, Illniois in the 70’s and 80’s and appeared in a free concert at Westmont High School. His son was a student there and was a star basketball player. He played the concert as a tribute to his son, Joe Morganfield. Unfortunately his son, was implicated in a sexual confrontation with a student when he played for the University or Iowa. In any case we attended the concert.
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CW said on April 17, 2015 at 12:10 am
Bill, in the Small World Department, I met Joe Morganfield on this very day.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-muddy-waters-estate-suit-met-0417-20150416-story.html
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Dexter said on April 17, 2015 at 1:10 am
My wife never admitted it to me, but she loved Gordon Lightfoot. A guy can tell. And man, could that dude put on a show. I saw him at Pine Knob a few times in the 1970s. Pine Knob was a ski resort and in summer a music theater. Only bad thing was the guys peeing in the restroom sinks, and I mean it became the norm. As the beer flowed, the urinal waits became unbearable and the sink-pissing commenced.
In 1948 Ole Will Veeck signed an aging Satchel Paige to pitch. The Indians were fighting for the pennant, interest was keen.
Cleveland Indians announced Satch was going to pitch. It was a night game, and the old place by the lake could hold about 85,000 fans, it was huge. The Indians were planning for about 18,000 fans. Word spread..Satchel was pitching! Fans approached the gates of Municipal Stadium in droves…no real fan-count was ever possible. Bill Veeck estimated 95,000 crowded in that night, elbows to assholes all around. Beer, hot dogs, soda, snacks, disappeared early. It must have been something to behold.
In 1993, I decided to follow the Tribe, as they had a core of young players I knew were going to be special. I had a baseball spiritual re-birth, a new team to cheer, and never again would my ballgame memories be clouded by an alcohol fog, as I had quit. I love heights, and I’d climb to the highest perches in Municipal Stadium and look at the lake and the tall buildings between innings. No body had been up there in ages. The seats were really dirty and behind the seats in the last row were many spiders. It was a bit creepy, and very dirty. The next year, Jacobs Field was ready, a real show-place. And Major League Baseball went on strike. Otto Moser Bar was my fave hang-out when it was still on East 4th Street. In the late 70s and the 80s when I still drank, my brothers and I would go have tongue sandwiches, mugs of draught beer and 50 cents shots of bourbon. http://ech.cwru.edu/Resource/Image/R05.jpg
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Crazycatlady said on April 17, 2015 at 2:24 am
Having worked in nursing homes for 30 years, I’ve never had a case like the man mentioned. I have had family members get into beds with their mom or dad to give hugs and warm cuddles, but nothing inappropriate. On the other hand, I have witnessed patients inappropriate touching other residents. Of course it’s documented, but it has never been a legal thing. Just informed families and monitoring of resident’s where-abouts. I did have a family member supply pornography for Grampa because Sonny-Boy felt sorry for him. His Gramps was a mean old man and he was kicked out for harassing the young nurse’s assistants when nurses weren’t around. I also had an old man who was dying. I was leaning over to wipe his face and he grabbed my boob, and smiled. I scolded him jokingly. He died that next day. I knew him for a long while, so I told his daughter about his ‘indiscretion’ , and we laughed. It’s good to share with family you know well.
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Sherri said on April 17, 2015 at 2:26 am
Can I restrict what Sam Brownback spends his money on? He’s been living on taxpayer money for a lot of years now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/06/kansas-wants-to-ban-welfare-recipients-from-seeing-movies-going-swimming-on-governments-dime/?hpid=z4
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Jerry said on April 17, 2015 at 2:33 am
No big name concerts but a Saturday dance at university had The Who as the main act. I remember them playing just three numbers in a one hour set. The longest number was Smokestack Lightning which I recall as lasting over 30 minutes. This was just before fame and at the end of the dance they dragged their own amps down the stairs to their van. My friend who sang in a local blues group was most distressed.
Best concert was Mariza, a fado singer, in London a couple of years ago. She was doing three concerts. A German next to me had come over from Hamburg to see the concert on all three nights. I had a seat in the front row; at the end she walked along the row and shook hands with each of us and thanked us for coming. Marvellous.
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Dexter said on April 17, 2015 at 2:44 am
A couple more tidbits about the huge stadium nance attended to see The Stones: The stadium was built on reclaimed land and many believed the foundation contained toxic waste. When “Grover” Hargrove took over as manager of the team, he insisted drinking water be brought in for his team so they would not drink water delivered by aged rusty pipes buried in the waste-foundation.
I, of course did not know this and when I attended a few games there, I would drink the fountain water. Yuck!
I then refused to drink water from the fountains at new jacobs Field, as there was this on repulsive teenager who had long thick hair and between innings, even though he was about five steps from the washroom sinks, insisted on rinsing his greasy head in the water fountain. Again…horrible.
Back to the old park for one last parting remark. The stadium didn’t go far: The whole pile of rubble was carted and barged out into deep water and made into reefs for fishies. How nice.
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Linda said on April 17, 2015 at 5:48 am
I saw Leon Russell for my 16th birthday. An excellent concert. Saw him decades later in a club in Toledo, and the old boy still had it.
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Bob (not Greene) said on April 17, 2015 at 10:07 am
Hey CW @62, you had a busy day yesterday! I live in Berwyn and between the crazy thing at MacNeal and the man wanted for murder who killed himself at the Presidential Inn in Lyons and a crash that flipped a Berwyn squad car at 24th and East it was quite something.
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Basset said on April 17, 2015 at 12:29 pm
MacNeal the car floor mat place? What happened?
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CW said on April 18, 2015 at 1:19 am
@Basset
It was MacNeal hospital, or actually a nearby apartment building. They found a decomposed body in a unit rented by a doctor. likely a suicide, probably the doc. The hazmat people were out because cops saw a couple of propane tanks inside the apartment, though that didn’t amount to anything.
Yes, it was a crazy day in Berwyn yesterday.
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