My list is quite long so here are the highlights:
Nearly every "free for students" concert at the University of Miami, including Pink Floyd's Ummagumma tour, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Jethro Tull's Stand Up tour, The Illusion, Rare Earth, The Chambers Brothers, The Byrds, and many more I can't remember from before 1973.
Almost every free concert given by the City of Miami, or Dade County to "keep the kids off the streets" in the summer. A local "one hit wonder" (Stoned Cowboy) band called Fantasy was on nearly every weekend, the absolute worst show was Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis Joplin was too drunk to sing, or even stand up without help. She insulted the audience repeatedly. We left after she threw the microphone at a person in the audience.
Every show by the Moody Blues from 1970 to about 2010, maybe 20 in all. Yes, I liked them.
saw Pink Floyd 4 times, Metallica 5 times including Lollapalooza 96, Yes 4 times, Trans Siberian Orchestra, 4 times, The Doobie Brothers twice, Blue Oyster Cult, Lynard Skynard, Fleetwood Mac.....
Most every Christian Rock act that came to south Florida in the 80's and 90's.
several all day "stadium shows" from Frampton Comes Alive to the yearly Zeta fest shows with a major act like Def Leppard as the closer.
We had a way to get into shows held at Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove for free. The Venue was a late 40's vintage sea-plane hangar with seats added. The Pan-American airways logo could still be seen in some places. It had no air conditioning, and bare corrugated steel walls for poor acoustics, and extreme heat in the summer. The sea-plane doors were still in place just padlocked shut. It was easy to swim under them if you didn't mind being in the uber polluted Biscayne Bay water in the late 60's (since cleaned up). The place was so hot that a pair of shorts, flip flops and no shirt was the norm. Being wet didn't stand out either.
I saw Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, and a few others, but the highlight show that the venue will be remembered for was The Doors show where Jim Morrison would be arrested for "indecent conduct." The reporters say that he was "shirtless on stage" which was not so common in 1969 strict uptight Miami, but most of the audience was shirtless as it was bleepin hot inside.
The "witness reports" vary greatly from there. From my vantage point in the back of the arena, I could not tell what was going on below his waist, but most of the time both hands were visible. He repeated Five To One several times, often screaming the words "no one here gets out alive." He was obviously intoxicated, as was most of the audience. Most of his words were unintelligible. He also performed some crude lip work on the microphone which looked gross, and sounded worse. I would have been quite unhappy if I paid for that show.
The venue was used to process Cuban refugees during the Kennedy airlift in the early 60's and for filming the TV show "Burn Notice" in the 2000's before being demolished sometime later.
Another show from my teenage years.....as with most kids, my parents did not like the music I listened to. My mom watched the Monkees on TV and thought that they were good.....They couldn't even play instruments at that time. She even offered to pay for me to see them when they came to Miami....no way. A few days before the show one of my guitar playing buddies told me about an up and coming really good guitar player who would open for the Monkees, so I got my mom to get us tickets, and my friends older brother drove us to the show......the guitar player was Jimi Hendrix. That show convinced the three of us that we would never be rock stars. Jimi was largely booed and disliked by the audience of mostly screaming young girls, so we left when the Monkees came on.
Another low point in my concert days was when we took our teenage daughter to see the New Kids on the Block at the Miami Dolphins Stadium. They were the 80's version of the Monkees.
Nearly every "free for students" concert at the University of Miami, including Pink Floyd's Ummagumma tour, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Jethro Tull's Stand Up tour, The Illusion, Rare Earth, The Chambers Brothers, The Byrds, and many more I can't remember from before 1973.
Almost every free concert given by the City of Miami, or Dade County to "keep the kids off the streets" in the summer. A local "one hit wonder" (Stoned Cowboy) band called Fantasy was on nearly every weekend, the absolute worst show was Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis Joplin was too drunk to sing, or even stand up without help. She insulted the audience repeatedly. We left after she threw the microphone at a person in the audience.
Every show by the Moody Blues from 1970 to about 2010, maybe 20 in all. Yes, I liked them.
saw Pink Floyd 4 times, Metallica 5 times including Lollapalooza 96, Yes 4 times, Trans Siberian Orchestra, 4 times, The Doobie Brothers twice, Blue Oyster Cult, Lynard Skynard, Fleetwood Mac.....
Most every Christian Rock act that came to south Florida in the 80's and 90's.
several all day "stadium shows" from Frampton Comes Alive to the yearly Zeta fest shows with a major act like Def Leppard as the closer.
We had a way to get into shows held at Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove for free. The Venue was a late 40's vintage sea-plane hangar with seats added. The Pan-American airways logo could still be seen in some places. It had no air conditioning, and bare corrugated steel walls for poor acoustics, and extreme heat in the summer. The sea-plane doors were still in place just padlocked shut. It was easy to swim under them if you didn't mind being in the uber polluted Biscayne Bay water in the late 60's (since cleaned up). The place was so hot that a pair of shorts, flip flops and no shirt was the norm. Being wet didn't stand out either.
I saw Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, and a few others, but the highlight show that the venue will be remembered for was The Doors show where Jim Morrison would be arrested for "indecent conduct." The reporters say that he was "shirtless on stage" which was not so common in 1969 strict uptight Miami, but most of the audience was shirtless as it was bleepin hot inside.
The "witness reports" vary greatly from there. From my vantage point in the back of the arena, I could not tell what was going on below his waist, but most of the time both hands were visible. He repeated Five To One several times, often screaming the words "no one here gets out alive." He was obviously intoxicated, as was most of the audience. Most of his words were unintelligible. He also performed some crude lip work on the microphone which looked gross, and sounded worse. I would have been quite unhappy if I paid for that show.
The venue was used to process Cuban refugees during the Kennedy airlift in the early 60's and for filming the TV show "Burn Notice" in the 2000's before being demolished sometime later.
Another show from my teenage years.....as with most kids, my parents did not like the music I listened to. My mom watched the Monkees on TV and thought that they were good.....They couldn't even play instruments at that time. She even offered to pay for me to see them when they came to Miami....no way. A few days before the show one of my guitar playing buddies told me about an up and coming really good guitar player who would open for the Monkees, so I got my mom to get us tickets, and my friends older brother drove us to the show......the guitar player was Jimi Hendrix. That show convinced the three of us that we would never be rock stars. Jimi was largely booed and disliked by the audience of mostly screaming young girls, so we left when the Monkees came on.
Another low point in my concert days was when we took our teenage daughter to see the New Kids on the Block at the Miami Dolphins Stadium. They were the 80's version of the Monkees.
George,
Your mention of Janis Joplin being too drunk to perform reminds me of the time I went to see Joe Pass play at a local jazz club. It was winter, with some snow on the ground, and we waited outside before being let in. There was a cover charge and the place, which was reasonably small, was packed. This was around late 1980's best guess. When Pass finally came out of the kitchen to perform everyone was very attentive and quite being fans of this well know guitarist. After a few fumbled beginnings he started to mumble to the audience about how family and friends were more important then money. We realized then he was too drunk to play. He stood up and announced that he needed to throw up and headed for the bathroom. After that people started leaving and the club owner had to refund their cover charges.
A couple days later I learned what actually happened. Apparently Joe Pass arrived at Newark Airport early in the afternoon. When no one met him there he spent the day in the airport bar drinking. In the evening a then friend of mine Vic Juris arrived to pick Joe up, but by this time Pass was too far gone.
Your mention of Janis Joplin being too drunk to perform reminds me of the time I went to see Joe Pass play at a local jazz club. It was winter, with some snow on the ground, and we waited outside before being let in. There was a cover charge and the place, which was reasonably small, was packed. This was around late 1980's best guess. When Pass finally came out of the kitchen to perform everyone was very attentive and quite being fans of this well know guitarist. After a few fumbled beginnings he started to mumble to the audience about how family and friends were more important then money. We realized then he was too drunk to play. He stood up and announced that he needed to throw up and headed for the bathroom. After that people started leaving and the club owner had to refund their cover charges.
A couple days later I learned what actually happened. Apparently Joe Pass arrived at Newark Airport early in the afternoon. When no one met him there he spent the day in the airport bar drinking. In the evening a then friend of mine Vic Juris arrived to pick Joe up, but by this time Pass was too far gone.
Thinking about musical events....maybe twenty years ago I went with a friend to a local high school one evening to hear Japanese violinist Midori who was giving a recital with pianist Robert McDonald. Everything was going smoothly until the girl that was page turning for McDonald messed up big time by turning two pages instead of one. They both stopped playing and McDonald seemed very annoyed, got up and left the stage. So did Midori. After several minutes they both returned, with a new page turner, and started over. I'll bet that girl was totally embarrassed and I felt bad for her. The funny thing is that I had thoughts about what would happen if someone fudged the turn. Later I even wondered (just for a moment) if I caused it by thinking about it. 
I missed seeing Led Zeppelin, and I was a huge fan 
One of the oddest concerts I went to was Black Sabbath and the Ramones - at the Long Beach Arena 12/4/1978. The Ramones played several songs but got booed of the stage. No surprise there But I like the Ramones too. I once ran into Johnny Ramone at a convention buying some vinyl.
One of the oddest concerts I went to was Black Sabbath and the Ramones - at the Long Beach Arena 12/4/1978. The Ramones played several songs but got booed of the stage. No surprise there
But I like the Ramones too. I once ran into Johnny Ramone at a convention buying some vinyl.Attachments
Tubelab_com,
I feel sorry for the young ones of today, to see any well known band today it costs plenty and I do mean plenty. In fact life today is just money, money, money. When I was yo ng there was work aplenty, if I had a bad boss I just told him to GAFH and got another job the next day. I also always made sure I had money in the bank, having a Glaswegian father meant I learned all about money young and always found legal ways to make money - it gives you independence.
I take issue with what you say about the Monkees - there was one musician among them and that was Mickey Nesmith, he could play. His mother was the Tipp-ex queen and she was worth serious money.
One of the best gigs I ever went to was at Sussex Uni and it was Mickey Nesmith without his band playing his 12 string guitar. A stupid student shouted "where's the band, can't you afford them". Mickey was tuning up his guitar and he looked up and said "what's that you say boy - silence - did you embarrass yourself boy" and everyone laughed at the ****. For an hour and a half he created his own space, it was magical.
I feel sorry for the young ones of today, to see any well known band today it costs plenty and I do mean plenty. In fact life today is just money, money, money. When I was yo ng there was work aplenty, if I had a bad boss I just told him to GAFH and got another job the next day. I also always made sure I had money in the bank, having a Glaswegian father meant I learned all about money young and always found legal ways to make money - it gives you independence.
I take issue with what you say about the Monkees - there was one musician among them and that was Mickey Nesmith, he could play. His mother was the Tipp-ex queen and she was worth serious money.
One of the best gigs I ever went to was at Sussex Uni and it was Mickey Nesmith without his band playing his 12 string guitar. A stupid student shouted "where's the band, can't you afford them". Mickey was tuning up his guitar and he looked up and said "what's that you say boy - silence - did you embarrass yourself boy" and everyone laughed at the ****. For an hour and a half he created his own space, it was magical.
All of the Monkees became decent musicians near the end of their fame, but muck of the drivel that flowed forth on their weekly TV show was obviously lip synched as was some of the guitar playing.
My mom dragged me and my two brothers to music lessons from the time I was about 7 years old. In my pre teens I played the popular surf music of the day, and of course the Beatles once they appeared. To me, the Monkees were just clowns, which, I believe was the point of the TV show.
Reading this whole thread reminded me of two other musical revelations. The first cost me a good bit of my savings, and still does.
There was this run down amusement park in Dania Beach Florida called Pirates World. They had concerts, so my younger brother and I went to see ELP in 1971. We were in the cable car that passed over the area in front of the stage when the ride malfunctioned leaving us with the best seat in the house for about 15 minutes. Pirates World was demolished a few years later and a condo for retirees stands there now. After that show, I spent most of my savings on a PAIA 2720 music synthesizer kit, which took nearly a year to get. That kick started a lifelong fascination with music synthesis. I have been building synthesizer stuff ever since.
I played with DIY synthesis off an on, but seeing the Brain Salad Surgery tour convinced me to buy a malfunctioning ARP Odyssey synthesizer, which I repaired and expanded into a pretty big system. Unfortunately I was stupid enough to sell all my analog synthesis stuff in the digital 80's which was the low point in it's value.
In 1976 I was working in the factory at Motorola. A group of about 10 or 12 Motorola people including myself decided to go to an all day music festival at the Miami Baseball Stadium. The headliners were Gary Wright (the Dreamweaver) and Peter Frampton's Comes Alive tour. The stadium was packed full all day. Much of the early music was pretty mellow from local bands and lesser known acts. As Gary Wright was winding down things got loud and the "stadium crush" began. By the end of the show there were thousands of screaming fans packed against the stage, seen here starting at the 12:50 mark. This was the encore, a rendition of Jumpin Jack Flash, and the final song of the night.
Peter Frampton Comes Alive Anaheim, CA & Miami, FL 1976 - YouTube
Sometime in the mid 2000's I had taken a group of out of town visitors to a restaurant on the Ft. Lauderdale beach strip called the Sloop John B which remained as it was during the time and place where all of the Ft. Lauderdale "spring break" movies of the early 60's were filmed. We had left the Sloop and were walking north along the strip when I heard some good acoustic guitar playing without vocals coming from a small patio bar. This music was emanating from a single older grey haired man on a bar stool. We listened for a while, then began to move on when the guitar player started playing and singing a familiar song. It was a laid back version of Show Me the Way without the talk box. We walked around to the front of the bar and found that it was indeed Peter Frampton playing live in a half empty bar on a weeknight.
My mom dragged me and my two brothers to music lessons from the time I was about 7 years old. In my pre teens I played the popular surf music of the day, and of course the Beatles once they appeared. To me, the Monkees were just clowns, which, I believe was the point of the TV show.
Reading this whole thread reminded me of two other musical revelations. The first cost me a good bit of my savings, and still does.
There was this run down amusement park in Dania Beach Florida called Pirates World. They had concerts, so my younger brother and I went to see ELP in 1971. We were in the cable car that passed over the area in front of the stage when the ride malfunctioned leaving us with the best seat in the house for about 15 minutes. Pirates World was demolished a few years later and a condo for retirees stands there now. After that show, I spent most of my savings on a PAIA 2720 music synthesizer kit, which took nearly a year to get. That kick started a lifelong fascination with music synthesis. I have been building synthesizer stuff ever since.
I played with DIY synthesis off an on, but seeing the Brain Salad Surgery tour convinced me to buy a malfunctioning ARP Odyssey synthesizer, which I repaired and expanded into a pretty big system. Unfortunately I was stupid enough to sell all my analog synthesis stuff in the digital 80's which was the low point in it's value.
In 1976 I was working in the factory at Motorola. A group of about 10 or 12 Motorola people including myself decided to go to an all day music festival at the Miami Baseball Stadium. The headliners were Gary Wright (the Dreamweaver) and Peter Frampton's Comes Alive tour. The stadium was packed full all day. Much of the early music was pretty mellow from local bands and lesser known acts. As Gary Wright was winding down things got loud and the "stadium crush" began. By the end of the show there were thousands of screaming fans packed against the stage, seen here starting at the 12:50 mark. This was the encore, a rendition of Jumpin Jack Flash, and the final song of the night.
Peter Frampton Comes Alive Anaheim, CA & Miami, FL 1976 - YouTube
Sometime in the mid 2000's I had taken a group of out of town visitors to a restaurant on the Ft. Lauderdale beach strip called the Sloop John B which remained as it was during the time and place where all of the Ft. Lauderdale "spring break" movies of the early 60's were filmed. We had left the Sloop and were walking north along the strip when I heard some good acoustic guitar playing without vocals coming from a small patio bar. This music was emanating from a single older grey haired man on a bar stool. We listened for a while, then began to move on when the guitar player started playing and singing a familiar song. It was a laid back version of Show Me the Way without the talk box. We walked around to the front of the bar and found that it was indeed Peter Frampton playing live in a half empty bar on a weeknight.
Around 1970 I was living and working in Toronto for a couple of years. I walked to work and on my way home I would detour past Massey Hall to see who's playing there.
Massey Hall - Wikipedia
One night some jazz guy named Chuck Mangione was on the marque. I had nothing to do so I bought a ticket. A clean t shirt and a couple of hours later I sat down and was wondering if I had the right night. There was about 30-40 chairs on the left of the stage and 20-30 chairs on the right and a drum kit in the middle of the stage. I was thinking what the @#$% I thought it was supposed to be some kind of jazz quartet that was to be playing. An orchestra came out and started to warm up a choir joined them and warmed up as well. Chuck and his quartet came out as well as a guest singer. Wow, I had never heard a live unamplified orchestra and choir before. Chuck and his friends were pretty good too. As the years went by I heard Chuck in small clubs in Toronto, concert venues in Montreal and Los Angles when I happened to be there for work. He never disappointed.
Most of the live PA reinforced concerts I went to were disappointing. Too much crowd noise, lousy PA or the bands played their music exactly as on the recordings.
now a days I go to small venues that dont use any PA system or very small clubs where I can talk to the person beside me without shouting.
Massey Hall - Wikipedia
One night some jazz guy named Chuck Mangione was on the marque. I had nothing to do so I bought a ticket. A clean t shirt and a couple of hours later I sat down and was wondering if I had the right night. There was about 30-40 chairs on the left of the stage and 20-30 chairs on the right and a drum kit in the middle of the stage. I was thinking what the @#$% I thought it was supposed to be some kind of jazz quartet that was to be playing. An orchestra came out and started to warm up a choir joined them and warmed up as well. Chuck and his quartet came out as well as a guest singer. Wow, I had never heard a live unamplified orchestra and choir before. Chuck and his friends were pretty good too. As the years went by I heard Chuck in small clubs in Toronto, concert venues in Montreal and Los Angles when I happened to be there for work. He never disappointed.
Most of the live PA reinforced concerts I went to were disappointing. Too much crowd noise, lousy PA or the bands played their music exactly as on the recordings.
now a days I go to small venues that dont use any PA system or very small clubs where I can talk to the person beside me without shouting.
The best live concert I do remember was Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in Hamburg (1972?) with George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Ian Underwood, Jean-Luc-Ponty...). Excellent performance and excellent sound. I never encountered a more perfect and impressive concert.
Frank Zappa appeared on the Steve Allen TV show in 1963! He played the spokes of bicycle wheels. It's on youtube.
I saw Link Wray in 1999. He had this blonde Norwegian woman who would brush his hair while he played. He shook my hand from the stage at the end of the set. That was cool.
I also saw Ray Davies solo a few years later and Rod Stewart during the songbook era.
I saw a lot of indie rock, by far the majority of my concerts.
I also saw Ray Davies solo a few years later and Rod Stewart during the songbook era.
I saw a lot of indie rock, by far the majority of my concerts.
Nigel,
I knew someone who could get into a Hawkwind gig for free. It was at that terrible venue, the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, even Stalin wouldn't have allowed something like that to be built.
We sat at the back of the stage - I didn't hear any music just intolerable noise and Like you I couldn't hear for about 3 days.
I have to say that Robert Calvert's - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters was a brilliant proto punk LP better than what was to come.
I knew someone who could get into a Hawkwind gig for free. It was at that terrible venue, the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, even Stalin wouldn't have allowed something like that to be built.
We sat at the back of the stage - I didn't hear any music just intolerable noise and Like you I couldn't hear for about 3 days.
I have to say that Robert Calvert's - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters was a brilliant proto punk LP better than what was to come.
Ten years later.
I worked as the FOH engineer in parts of the "QUO'S BACK SUMMER TOUR 1986"
They had changed the backline from VOX AC 30 stacks to Marshall walls and the knobs went to 11.
The guitars was very loud from the stage, so as a FOH engineer I had to balance the mix with a lot of drums, bassguitar, keyboards and vocals in the front fills and make a complete mix in the main PA and the center fill.
Doing so I could use the low frequency to close the ear muscles to protect the audiens ears from high frequencies, to prevent ear damages.
BTW, they were really nice guys and we had som realy good time together.
I remember hearing Pictures of Matchstick Men in my backyard one weekend afternoon around 1970. I thought that someone had a really LOUD stereo, so I started walking Southeast toward the sound. I had walked over a mile and the sound kept getting louder. By this time, I had transitioned to an area where mostly retired people lived, so I knew that the sound could only be coming from one place, the University of Miami which was still about a mile away.
I got there to witness an outdoor concert. These were not uncommon at U of M, but I rarely could hear more than a glimpse of the sound from home, and only with a breeze from the Southeast. They were absolutely the loudest band that I have ever heard, and I have been up against the front rail in the "pit" at a Metallica show.
I got there to witness an outdoor concert. These were not uncommon at U of M, but I rarely could hear more than a glimpse of the sound from home, and only with a breeze from the Southeast. They were absolutely the loudest band that I have ever heard, and I have been up against the front rail in the "pit" at a Metallica show.