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