Concert #12 - Mike + the Mechanics at the Universal Amphitheatre (June 1986)

 

Bringing together Mike Rutherford (Genesis), Paul Young (Sad Cafe) and Paul Carrack (Squeeze), Mike + The Mechanics wasn't quite a super-group, but they were certainly a fun group.

  "All I Need Is A Miracle" and  "Silent Running" are great songs. Good videos, too. Both are from their self-titled debut album, released in 1985. At the time of their first concert in LA, that's all they had - one album - which wasn't quite enough for a headlining act. To supplement their meager repertoire, they had Paul Carrack deliver a soulful rendition of Squeeze's "Tempted", which turned out to be the most memorable part of the evening.

The opening act was Keep It Dark, a short-lived British band that left no lasting impressions.

Concert #11 - Tangerine Dream at the Universal Amphitheatre (June 5, 1986)

My first show of many at the now-renamed Universal Amphitheatre. In preparation for the show, I had been listening in my car to a cassette tape of two Tangerine Dream albums, yet the show was a massive surprise.

I sat at the balcony in the front row, a great vintage point for a highly visual production that involved much more than just the stage. With laser lights shooting from everywhere, with countless visual special effects, not to mention the out-of-this-world sounds, the show has left a lasting impression on me. And all that rich audio and video display was accomplished by two musicians only, who sat practically motionless in front of their oversized high-tech gear, as if they were not part of the show.

On the minus side, the show has had a negative side effect: just listening to Tangerine Dream's music is an underwhelming experience now.

Concert #10 - Pete Seeger & Arlo Guthrie at the Greek Theater (1986)

This was my first concert that I attended together with Ken and Marilyn, two good friends who for many years, until Marilyn's untimely passing, were regular concert-going partners of ours. Ken was a folkie, while Marilyn was more of a rocker, but the kind that could still enjoy an evening of acoustic music.

I had been very well acquainted with Pete Seeger's music, but as far as Arlo was concerned, I only knew "Alice's Restaurant", of course, and the "City Of New Orleans". Truth be told, it was Pete I really went to see.

We sat in Section B, in one of the first few rows, so we had decent seats overall. Pete was fantastic, but the big surprise was Arlo, who impressed me very much with both his singing and humor. After so many years, I still remember two of the songs I heard there for the first time: "Garbage" and Dave Mallet's "The Garden Song". Later, I found both songs on the same album, Pete Seeger's "Circles And Seasons", released in 1979.

The highlight of the show was the "If I Had A Hammer" sing-along. Now that's a song I've known since I was twelve - singing it with the master of singalongs was something truly special.

The crowd's repeated calls for Alice were totally ignored by Arlo. Rightly so.

Concert #9 - The Firm at the Forum (May 1986)

Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers - two of the biggest names in rock - yet together, as the Firm, they haven't achieved much. Two national tours and two rather forgettable albums later, the Firm disbanded to no one's chagrin. Still, it was fun going to the Forum to see my first concert there.

In spite of some decent support from KLOS and KMET, the Firm had failed to excite the masses, so no wonder that the show was not a sellout. Just like me, most people were there to see two legends in actions, and it that respect, we all got our money's worth. We did get to hear "Radioactive" and "All The King's Horses", two of their more palatable songs.

Here's a live version of "Radioactive":

Concert #8 - Simple Minds at the Greek Theater (April 16, 1986)

This concert came after almost three years of no live shows at all. Musically speaking, I'd been living in Oldiesville and I reached a point where I badly needed new music, new artists, new genres. Then one day, an Englishman I worked with gave me a VHS tape with two live concerts: Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. EC was so-so, but Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" show at the Wembley Arena just knocked me out. So I forced myself to listen to new stuff on the radio, and the result was Concert #8.

The Simple Minds had just had a huge hit in the States with "Don't You (Forget About Me)", from the movie The Breakfast Club. Their follow-up album, "Once Upon A Time", had also produced a few hits that were on heavy rotation on both radio and MTV.

The opening act was The Call, the American band whose song titled "I Still Believe" received quite a bit of airplay, and indeed, this song was the highlight of their set.

The headliners played a set that was later described by the LA Times as "suffering from sameness", not a totally untrue assessment. The crowd enthusiastically joined in on "Don't You (Forget About Me)". "All The Things She Said" and "Alive And Kicking", both from "Once Upon A Time", were also performed. I do remember their backup singer, Robin Clark, on her first-ever major national tour. She was quite a singer, but surprisingly, I haven't heard of her since then.

Going to the Greek Theater for the first time was quite an experience. That night was my introduction to the horrors of "stack parking", whereby you can drive out only after the cars around you are gone.

Concert #7 - Ray Charles at the LA County Fair (September 1983)

Located not too many miles from our house, the LA County Fair presents lots of concerts, year after year, but a typical line-up consists of mostly "has beens" of all genres. Every now and then, though, you can catch there something truly big. Like Ray Charles, for instance. 

We arrived a few hours early, and in this case, "we" meant my father, my friend Peter and myself. Our fair admission included the concert, with grandstand seating on a first-come-first-served basis. We had decent seats, obtained after standing in line for close to an hour.

Brother Ray was in good vocal form. Accompanied by a big band, he went through many of his standards, "Georgia On My Mind" among them, but what impacted me the most was a seldom-heard song called "Keep Me Singing", essentially a call to God for continued vocal prowess. My father was totally taken by the performance and so was I. Peter was less impressed.