Artists I've seen live

By my_past_is_yours my_past_is_yours
updated over 7 years ago

Over the last 36 years or so I've seen my fair share of live music. I credit the Resident's quote "Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool" and a bad stadium Fleetwood Mac concert circa 1978 with helping to push me to looking more at smaller clubs - that and a fake ID got me into Philly's only decent punk/new wave venue, The Hot Club, where I saw The Cure on their first US tour before any US releases, and where the Dead Boy's Stiv Bators tried to puke or gob on me from stage. I saw Tuxedomoon, Ultravox and a few other great shows there then the shows shifted to Emerald City in New Jersey for a while. Around the same time I also saw Devo, Brand X, Jean Luc Ponty, Frank Zappa, National Health, Sun Ra, Etron Fou, and Fred Frith solo - all prior to 1980 around Philadelphia. I moved to San Francisco in 1985 partly because the San Francisco bands of the early 80's seemed so creative to me. That was a great place for live music, inexpensive and in small clubs.

  1. 1

    Louis Armstrong

    Louis Armstrong

    I remember seeing him in Fairmount Park in Philly as a child. Probably circa 1969-70. His trumpet playing and mute as wah wah made a big impression on me.

  2. 2

    Cheech & Chong

    Cheech & Chong

    At the Main Point, Bryn Mawr PA, circa 1974. I was about 13 and my younger sis and I grew up listening to my older sister's albums. We somehow talked our parents into buying us tickets to take a visiting 12 year old cousin to see Cheech and Chong a few miles from home. We already knew most of the material but it was a treat to get to see them live on a stage 10 feet from us in a tiny theater. After the show they didnt come back for an encore for a long time - then came back and said they didn't realize we wanted more because usually people threw joints on stage if they wanted more. So a dozen joints flew up on stage and Cheech ran around picking them up and lit a few and handed them to the audience - looked right at me and my sis and cousin and almost handed it to us then decided not to but the guy next to us passed it along anyway. On the drive home the parents told us that they wondered why we had wanted to go see this so badly so they had listened to some of the records, and "frankly, we're concerned!" So had to try to explain that to them that it was the humor of the era and that we weren't already teenage drug addicts or going to be because of them.

  3. 3

    Uriah Heep

    Uriah Heep

    opening for Kiss circa 1976 or 1977

  4. 4

    Kiss

    Kiss

    Oh yeah, how could I forget - circa Xmas 1976? in Washington DC, from the back of a smoky hockey rink, with Uriah Heap opening - the first real rock concert production I went to.

  5. 5

    Joe Walsh

    Joe Walsh

    opening for and playing with Fleetwood Mac circa 1978

  6. 6

    Fleetwood Mac

    Fleetwood Mac

    JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, circa 1978?

  7. 7

    Spyro Gyra

    Spyro Gyra

    Saw them free in a park outside Philly circa 1978 in when I was in high school, sharing a bill with Pieces of a Dream.

  8. 8

    Pieces Of A Dream

    Pieces Of A Dream

    Saw them free in a park circa 1978 near Philly, and again for free at a show at Penn State a few years later circa 1981?

  9. 9

    Jean-Luc Ponty

    Jean-Luc Ponty

    Tower Theatre, Philly, 1978 or so, around the time of the LP Cosmic Messenger.

  10. 10

    Brand X (3)

    Brand X (3)

    Philly, Tower Theatre circa 1978 with Phil Collins on drums.

  11. 11

    Iggy Pop

    Iggy Pop

    Saw him at some bowling alley in Upper Darby, I think, circa 1979 on the New Values tour? He ate dog food.

  12. 12

    David Johansen

    David Johansen

    Opened for Devo in Philly. He was a bit silly, ripping his own clothes as he threw himself into the audience.

  13. 13

    Devo

    Devo

    Circa their first album, at the Tower Theater in Philly with David Johannsen opening.

  14. 14

    The Cure

    The Cure

    1st us tour, before any US releases. They played at a small dive in Philly, The Hot Club, to an audience of maybe 50-100 people. I don't remember much more than that.

  15. 15

    Nash The Slash

    Nash The Slash

    Opened for Gary Numan at the Tower Theater in Philly circa 1979. Nice solo set with slides, mummy wrapped Nash on violin. Also saw him play again opening for Nina Hagen. Interesting music and stage theatrics.

  16. 16

    Gary Numan

    Gary Numan

    Tower Theatre, Philly, 1980? Nash the Slash opened. They had a fantastic light show and great band.

    The Pleasure Principle
    Numan toured throughout the world in support of the album with a huge stage set including banks of neon lights and twin pyramids which danced across the stage via radio control. The live show was captured on record as Living Ornaments ’79 and on video as The Touring Principle. The support act on the UK leg of the tour was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

  17. 17

    Tuxedomoon

    Tuxedomoon

    Hot Club, Philly, same night as Gary Numan. Then a few more times in San Francisco at DV8, and the Kennel Club. Great shows.

  18. 18

    The Dead Boys

    The Dead Boys

    the Hot Club, Philly. A web site tells a story of them at the Hot Club once where Stiv Bators almost guy strangled when he put a rope around his neck and the audience grabbed it and dragged him into the crowd. I don't remember that, but I do recall being a few feet in front of Stiv when he started to puke or spew something right at me... I dodged it but it hit my shoe, making a nasty mess.

  19. 19

    Robert Fripp

    Robert Fripp

    Bryn Mawr, 1979, Plastic Fantastic Record Store, Frippertronics lecture and demo and signing of his Exposure album. Daevid Allen of Gong was in the audience handing out flyers for a NY Gong Show at the Hot Club that same night.

  20. 20

    Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

    Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

    One of those Philly Hot Club shows I don't really recall at all other than how excited I was to go see them around when their first album came out, or shortly after the Enola Gay single.

  21. 21

    The Reds

    The Reds

    Opened for PIL at the Tower in Philly. They were ok for a local band at the time.

  22. 22

    Public Image Limited

    Public Image Limited

    2nd edition tour, Philly, Tower Theater circa 1980. Lydon ran around on stage asking the audience to throw money at one point, and they did, so he ran around picking up spare change and bills.

  23. 23

    Ultravox

    Ultravox

    Hot Club, Philly, with Midge Ure just after John Foxx left and just before Vienna. They did an Eno cover, I think (Sombre Reptiles?), and I recall the song Dislocation having a deep bass felt deep in my gut. Great show. Barely recall it.

  24. 24

    Nina Hagen

    Nina Hagen

    Circa 1980 - I won free tickets to see her upstairs at Emerald City in Cherry Hill, NJ. It seemed like the station couldn't give the tickets away - no one really knew who she was and she didn't have any US releases at the time. I talked a friend into going because Nash The Slash was opening. When Nina started her set and was tie dyed dreadlocks doing material like African Reggae my friend freaked out and left after a few songs. I wish I'd stayed and hitchhiked home, I loved her when NunSexMonkRock came out about a year later.

  25. 25

    Steel Tips

    Steel Tips

    Horrible show at the Hot Club in Philly. I think we went to see someone else (Yellow Magic Orchestra?) and they cancelled and Steel Tips showed up. Rumor was the band we came to see had bailed to go see the Cramps at Emerald City that night. I suspect Joe Coleman was with the Steel Tips that night and that he was part of band and why I hated them that night.