Concert #50 - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Universal Amphitheater (July 30, 1989)

My second encounter with TP, also at the Universal Amphitheater, two years after the first one. They had been touring with Bob Dylan, which gave Tom a huge credibility boost in my eyes.

This time I sat closer to the stage, on the main floor, which they call "orchestra". Just like the first time, I was impressed by the quality of the band. Since then, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench remained some of my favorite "unsung" musicians and it was a thrill to see them perform, many years later, on separate occasions, in the intimate confines of McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.

The opening act was an old favorite of mine, Dion DiMucci, better known as Dion. His "Ruby Baby" was one of the earliest songs I remember listening to as a young kid. On stage, he wore a beret, just like the one in the picture. Sadly, I can't remember any of the songs he played that night and the Internet wasn't helpful either.

Concert #49 - Tanita Tikaram at the Roxy Theater (May 2, 1989)

She came out of nowhere, literally. In 1988 I heard her "Twist In My Sobriety" song on the radio, bought the album (titled "Ancient Heart"), and from that point on, I was hooked big time. The album had nothing but gems, not a single weak song, and when the album came out, she was still in her teens. Absolutely stunning.

Her first tour of the States brought me to the Roxy for the first time. I got there early, stood directly against the stage and enjoyed a great concert with someone whose music I dearly loved. Until that time, I had never been so close to a performer, and that was very special. I knew almost all songs that she played. Quite often, she delivered the songs with her eyes closed, as if she was in a dream. There was little eye contact with the crowd, and she didn't say much.

Here's a 1988 video of "Twist In My Sobriety":

Concert #48 - Mike & the Mechanics at the Universal Amphitheater (April 1989)

My second time to see Mike & the Mechanics, but this time they were without Paul Carrack. Moreover, the "All I Need Is A Miracle" momentum was gone, so the concert was pretty bland.


The opening act was Escape Club, who at the time were enjoying some success with their single "Wild Wild West". They ended their set by saying that they would be back with more hits. I'm still waiting.

Concert #47 - Robert Cray at the Universal Amphitheater (January 28, 1989)

My second time to catch Robert Cray, after having seen his excellent opening set for Eric Clapton in 1987. This show was less memorable. I can't remember whether he played "Right Next Door" and "Smokin' Gun", my favorite songs from "Strong Persuader", his then-current album. By the way, my son Danny still plays those two songs.

The opening act was my fellow-Claremonter David Lindley, who played a few different guitars, as usual. It was my introduction to his music.

Concert #46 - 10,000 Maniacs at the Wiltern Theater (October 31, 1988)

 

My second time to see the Maniacs, the first time as headliners. I sat upstairs, in one of the first rows. Not bad. Downy Mildew was the opening act, nothing special. The Maniacs opened their set with "Hey Jack Kerouac", then they went on to play a few more songs from "In My Tribe". From their not-yet-released third album they played "Eat For Two". Natalie danced and moved around quite a bit, pretty much like in this video:

Being the huge fan that I was, I bought a 10,000 Maniacs T-shirt, with the gorgeous "In My Tribe" LP cover in the front. I still have it, more then twenty two years after the show.

Concert #45 - The Scorpions at the LA Sports Arena (October 19, 1988)

I went back to the LA Sports Arena to see the Scorpions, the German pop-metal band who was all over the radio and MTV with their catchy songs. I really liked Klaus Meine's voice, undoubtedly one of the best rock & roll voices ever. I had a great seat, on the floor, close to the stage. They played two nights, both were sell-outs.

It's easy to dismiss the Scorpions, but on certain nights, it feels good listening to their made-for-radio music, it's as simple as that. There were lots of special effects, lots of movement, great music and excellent vocals. They did play most of the songs that made me wanna see them live, such as this one:

The proceedings started with Winger, a rock band that did not particularly impress me.

Concert #44 - Joe Cocker at the Universal Amphitheater (October 1988)

My second Joe Cocker concert, less than a year after the first one. Crazy? Absolutely not. Joe was, and still is, a Force of Nature, a powerful live performer, typically accompanied by top-notch musicians, always offering a good mix of old and new, including the song that put him on the map in the first place, "With A Little Help From My Friends". And then there's the air-guitar. And the facial expressions. And the contorted body. In other words, you do get your money's worth.

The show opener was a band called Jimmy Wood & The Immortals, who disappeared into the same oblivion it came from.

Concert #43 - Santana at the Greek Theater ( Sep 27, 1988)

Thirteen months after my first-ever Santana show, it was time for me to see him again. He plays often in the Los Angeles area, typically at large venues, and this time he came to the Greek for two consecutive nights. I went with a coworker, Dennis S.

Santana's gig was pretty much the same as the one I caught at the Universal, but it had less of an impact on me. Still, I think it was then when I first realized what a great song "No One To Depend On" was. As far as I remember, Alex Ligertwood did most of the vocals.

Concert #42 - Eric Clapton at the Irvine Meadows (September 23, 1988)

Eric Clapton & Mark Knopfler together - a show not to be missed and I didn't miss it - I went with a coworker, Pawel W, and his wife. It was my first-ever show at the Irvine Meadows. We had decent seats, dead center, about 20 rows back.

This was Eric's gig, Mark was just one of his helpers, along with Nathan East (bass), Alan Clark of Dire Straits fame (keyboards), Steve Ferrone (drums), plus Tessa Niles and Katie Kissoon (vocals). Quite a crew.

They played mostly well-known songs, among them "I Shot The Sheriff", "Tearing Us Apart", "Can't Find My Way Home", "Cocaine", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Badge", with Mark keeping a relatively low profile. His only solo effort was "Money For Nothing", toward the very end of the show.

Watch this YouTube video - EC introduces the band, then plays "Cocaine":

Cajun artist Buckwheat Zydeco opened the show - his appearance could only be described as a massive musical mismatch. I assume EC just wanted to showcase him.




Exiting the parking lot of the Meadows was not an easy thing. Actually it was a horrific experience, it took me about 45 minutes to get out. On subsequent visits I paid extra to park in their "preferred" lot, from where you could easily bolt out.

Concert #41 - Steve Winwood at the Universal Amphitheater (July 26, 1988)

1988 may have been the peak of Steve Winwood's return to the high life, to paraphrase his own lyrics. "Roll With It" was on a roll, so it was a good time to catch him live again. I sat fairly close to the stage, a bit to the left.

Opening for Steve was Johnny Clegg and Savuka from South Africa, a multi-racial group that was much better than expected. I could not believe how well Johnny could still sing after a few minutes of high energy dance moves. Two of his songs I still play occasionally: "Take My Heart Away" and "Asimbonanga".

Steve played songs from the current album ("Put On Your Dancing Shoes", "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do" and "Roll With It"), plus some gems from the past ("Low Spark of High Heeled Boys", "Spark", "I'm A Man" and the more recent "Higher Love").

All-in-all, a great show with someone I'd been idolizing since 1966.

Concert #40 - Sting at the Forum (March 21, 1988)

 

"The Dream Of The Blue Turtles" had been out for a couple of years when I finally became aware of it, thanks to a documentary I happened to catch on TV. The film documented the making of the album, had some footage from the ensuing tour and I liked what I saw. By the time Sting finally came to town, he was touring in support of his second solo album, "Nothing Like The Sun", which wasn't a bad album, but to this day I prefer the Blue Turtles. 

Three of the musicians from the Blue Turtles were still with Sting: Branford Marsalis on sax, Kenny Kirkland on keyboards and vocalist Dolette McDonald. They played most of the "Sun" album, three songs from the "Blue Turtles" and a few Police gems. The band was jazzy and they sounded great. I remember the arena's big screen showing Sting's bare chest a couple of times - as they say, give the people what they want.

SET LIST

Intro

The Lazarus Heart

Too Much Information

We'll Be Together

Englishman In New York

Sister Moon

Rock Steady

Murder By Numbers

Straight To My Heart

One World (Not Three)

If You Love Somebody Set Them Free

Consider Me Gone

Bring On The Night

When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around

Encore 1

They Dance Alone

King Of Pain

Be Still My Beating Heart

Fragile

Little Wing

From Me To You

Encore 2

Home On The Range

Fortress Around Your Heart

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Encore 3

The Secret Marriage

Message In A Bottle

Concert #39 - Squeeze at UC Irvine (February 19, 1988)

 In 1987 I discovered "In My Tribe", the brilliant second album of the equally brilliant 10,000 Maniacs. The album hit me like a train, I could not get enough of it. Led by Natalie Merchant, the Maniacs came to Southern California in 1988, but not as a headlining act. It didn't matter to me, I went to see them anyway.

The headliners were the Squeeze, a British band I knew little about. The show took place at UC Irvine's Bren Event Center. I sat in the lower section, at the "50 yard line".

Natalie Merchant

The 10,000 Maniacs were not an exceedingly polished band, their sound was somewhat raw, but I had fun watching Natalie and the boys. They played a few songs from "In My Tribe", plus a few I didn't know. Then the Squeeze came out and I immediately said to myself "I can tell why the Maniacs are not the headliners". 

Squeeze sounded tight, they were a true band of professional musicians that were in a different league altogether. In addition to permanent members Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the line-up also included Jools Holland, who later went on to achieve greater fame on his own. It was a great night - I got to see the Maniacs and then got exposed to a band that since then has given me tons of pleasure.

Bren Event Center (UC Irvine)

Bren Event Center (UC Irvine)

Concert #38 - Rush at the Forum (February 4, 1988)

My first live encounter with Neil, Geddy & Alex. The concert was part of the "Hold Your Fire" tour, which started in Canada in 1987 and ended in 1988 in Germany. I went to the show well prepared, having listened quite a bit to two of their more recent albums, "Signals" and "Hold Your Fire". Still, I was a relative newcomer to Rush's music, but I loved their sound and lyrics.

Watch "La Villa Strangiato" in this YouTube video, which by the way, was shot in 1988, shortly after I saw them live:

It was a great show overall. I remember well how the cigarette lighters came out during "Closer To The Heart". Neil Peart was phenomenal, as always.

SET LIST

• Intro (Three Stooges Theme)
• The Big Money
• Subdivisions
• Limelight
• Marathon
• Turn the Page
• Prime Mover
• Manhattan Project
• Closer To The Heart
• Red Sector A
• Force Ten
• Time Stand Still
• Distant Early Warning
• Lock and Key
• Mission
• Territories
• YYZ
• The Rhythm Method (Drum Solo)
• Red Lenses
• The Spirit of Radio
• Tom Sawyer
• Encore: 2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx)
• La Villa Strangiato
• In The Mood 

The show opener by Tommy Shaw of Styx fame. Not really my style.

Concert #37 - Jethro Tull at the Universal Amphitheater (December 15, 1987)

I'd been a Jethro Tull fan ever since I first heard "Living In The Past", then a little later, "Stand Up" became one of my all-time favorite albums. Needless to say, I got all excited when they announced Jethro Tull's three-day engagement at the Universal.

After having grabbed a bite to eat at Jerry's Deli together with my friend James C, we arrived just in time to see the Fairport Convention, which in 1987 included Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg and Dave Mattacks, among others. They played a decent set, which may have ended with "Meet On The Ledge", except that at that time I was unaware of the song and its meaning.

Jethro Tull played a great set, complete with "Bouree", "Songs From The Wood", "Thick As A Brick", "Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day", "Living In The Past" and "Budapest". Dave Pegg did double duty as Tull's bass player, shortly after having finished playing with Fairport.

Ian Anderson had just turned 40 and was in exceptionally good physical shape. He did all the moves he was known for, he moaned and groaned, then at the end of the show, he released a few huge balloons into the crowd, which were punched around until they exploded. It was a lot of fun.

Not having found a good quality video from 1987-1988, I have selected an HD version of "Bouree", recorded in 2001:

Concert #36 - Joe Cocker at the Wiltern Theater (November 23, 1987)

One fine day I felt like going to an air-guitar concert, so I got me a ticket to see one of the better air-guitarists around, Joe Cocker. Oh, he sings, too. The opening act was a certain Peter Himmelman, someone I had not heard of. A few hours before the show, I stopped at a record store and right there in the discount bin, I saw a Himmelman LP selling for 99 cents. I bought it.

Peter came out with an acoustic guitar, sang a few of his songs, but no one cared. I thought it was a stupid idea to try to grab the people's attention with just a voice and an acoustic guitar, when people actually came to see a screamer who also happened to be a living legend. The sound was bad, and after a few boring songs, I remember thinking "Enough already, We want Joe".

A few days after the show, I sold the Himmelman LP for a dime, for a net loss of 89 cents. But at least I did not have to store a useless album in my music room.

I had absolutely no inkling at that time that Peter Himmelman would one day become one of my most beloved musicians, whom I would follow with unmatched interest and passion for many years.

But back to Joe. His show was great, absolutely great. He sang "You Can Leave Your Hat On", probably the first time I ever heard the song. He also did "You Are So Beautiful", "Shelter Me" and of course, "With A Little Help From My Friends".

Concert #35 - David Bowie at the LA Sports Arena (October 13, 1987)

This was the Los Angeles leg of David Bowie's Glass Spider world tour. Although I wasn't a big fan, I went to the show with a Brit named John, we had decent seats on the left side of the stage, not too high up. The show had an elaborate stage, complete with acrobatic dancers, light show and all the rest. The sound wasn't great, the special effects did not impress me, so I went home a bit unhappy.

 

David's band included Peter Frampton, who played lead guitar and did some backup vocals.

Many years later, the Glass Spider Tour videos found on YouTube look much better to me than the concert itself back in 1987. Go figure.

SET LIST

1. Up The Hill Backwards

2. Glass Spider

3. Up The Hill Backwards reprise

4. Day In Day Out

5. Bang Bang

6. Absolute Beginners

7. Loving The Alien

8. China Girl

9. Rebel Rebel

10. Fashion

11. Scary Monsters

12. All The Madmen

13. Never Let Me Down

14. Big Brother

15. 87 And Cry

16. "Heroes"

17. Sons Of The Silent Age

18. Time Will Crawl

19. Young Americans

20. Beat Of Your Drum

21. The Jean Genie

22. Let's Dance

23. Fame

Encore

 24. Time

 25. Blue Jean

 26. I Wanna Be Your Dog featuring Charlie Sexton

 27. White Light White Heat featuring Charlie Sexton

 28. Modern Love

Concert #34 - Simply Red at the Wiltern Theater (October 10, 1987)

When I bought Simply Red's "Picture Book" album at Rhino Records in Claremont, the sales clerk told me "You'll love this record", and he was right. Great songs and great delivery by Mick Hucknall. In the late 80s, their sound had an edge and they were definitely different from the rest. In later years they became more of a pop act that failed to grab my interest, even though Mick's voice remains something special to this day.

The show started with Mick coming out from behind the curtain to sing "I Guess I'll Drown in My Own Tears" all by himself. For his encore, he chose Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher". In between, they sang many of their best songs from their first two albums, including "Come To My Aid", "Suffer", "The Right Thing", "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" and "Holding Back The Years".

The show was opened by Danny Wilson, a British band whose members were called neither Danny, nor Wilson, that's all I remember about them.

 After the show, LA Times' Chris Willman wrote "No doubt about it, Simply Red is a class act that attracts a class crowd". Thanks, Chris, you are right.

Here's a great live performance of "The Right Thing", circa 1987:

Concert #33 - Dionne Warwick & Burt Bacharach at the Greek Theater (Sept 11, 1987)

Two of my all-time favorites, together under the stars at the Greek Theater. The show cam shortly after Burt and Dionne had reconciled their legal differences, after years of litigation. Also, before this tour, they had never performed together in public.

It seldom rains in September, but the threat of rain was real and, at one point, a few drops came down, to which Dionne quipped "After all, you all came to hear Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head". We were fortunate, the rain stopped and we got to witness an excellent concert, with nothing but well-known and much-loved songs. Dionne was in top vocal form, Burt got to sing a few himself.

Most of the show featured the songs written by Burt and made famous by Dionne, but there was a segment dedicated to Burt's Oscar-winning soundtracks and one focusing on Dionne's post-Bacharach hits.

More often than not, concert reviews are negative or mixed at best.All-out favorable reviews are very rare, but here's an exception:

Durable Duo

September 14, 1987|PAUL GREIN

Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach have been collaborating on records for 25 years (except for one long gap), but until last month they'd never performed together in public. Their concert Friday at the Greek Theatre was well worth the wait. Though most of the selections were oldies, the show was more than just a trip down memory lane--a testimony to the vitality and durability of Bacharach's songs and the awesome power in Warwick's vocals. Though Warwick has long been one of our most gifted singers, she has sometimes seemed haughty and reserved in concert. But the presence of her long-time producer-composer-arranger seemed to bring out the best in her.

The show (the first of three Southland weekend dates) was superbly organized and paced, with both stars on stage for virtually the entire two hours. The two talked and joked freely, not just about "safe" subjects--such as Bacharach's wobbly voice--but also touchy ones--notably their 10-year feud, which ended in 1984. You would expect a concert by these two veterans to be classy and sophisticated, but what made it so memorable was that it was also so dynamic and exciting. Pop concerts just don't get any better than this.

Concert #32 - Crowded House at the Wiltern Theater (September 6, 1987)

You don't often see two great acts from Down-Under in one show. The headlining Crowded House and Paul Kelly & The Messengers, the opening act, put on an excellent show. I sat at the balcony, in one of the first rows. Crowded House only had their first self-titled album out, so not a lot of material to dive into. They did play the two stand-out songs from the album, "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong".

Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly and the Messengers were a great opening act, with many good songs. Funny thing: today, so many years after I first discovered him, I listen to a lot more Paul Kelly than Crowded House, even though the latter have sold many more CDs.

Here's one of my favorite Paul Kelly songs, "Before Too Long"

During the late 1980s, the Wiltern became one of my favorite venues. I particularly enjoyed sitting upstairs at the balcony, which they called "loge".

Concert #31 - Santana at the Universal Amphitheater (Aug 16, 1987)

One day after the Bryan Adams show at the Forum, I was back in action again, this time at the Universal Amphitheater. Up to that point, I had only been a mild Santana fan, but seeing him live changed that for ever, and from that point on, I went back many times to see Santana play.

Santana's guitar playing was stunning, vocalist Alex Ligertwood was great as well, but the highlight of the show were the four drummers and percussionists, who drove the band from start to finish and got my blood circulating at amazing speeds. Keyboardist Chester Thompson was also a key contributor, pun intended.

The highlight of the show was when they played, in quick succession, "Black Magic Woman", "Gypsy Queen", " Oye Como Va", "Evil Ways" and "Jingo", a veritable tour de force that got all of us standing and screaming. Unforgettable.

One thing is clear: no studio recording can capture the energy and the power of Santana live.