When I was fifteen years old, I had the most ridiculous crush on a guy named Tom, who was the college roommate of my sister’s boyfriend. Although my adolescent longing for Tom’s relentless hotness went thoroughly unrequited, he and I did have a sweet sort of friendship. Lots of times, my sister would let me tag along on visits to her boyfriend’s apartment, and we would all listen to records together. Besides Frank Zappa’s Freak Outand Just Another Band From LA, Tom introduced me to an LP that made a strong and lasting impression on me; the just–released (at the time) Steely Dan epic, The Royal Scam. Like any Beatles album you can name, The Royal Scam is a true masterpiece of recorded music.
On This Date, July 8th, in 1967: The Monkees kicked off their U.S. tour in Jacksonville, Florida with the Jimi Hendrix Experience as their support act. Hendrix would be dropped from the bill after eight concerts. I think we can guess why. This story reminds me also of a concert-going memory my older sister shared with me, of seeing The Who open for Herman’s Hermits. The Sixties, what a crazy time!
On This Date, July 3rd, in 1976: Brian Wilson made his first appearance in 11 years with The Beach Boys in concert in Anaheim, CA at Anaheim Stadium. It was a co-headlining show with the band America – very appropriate to celebrate the country’s Bicentennial! And yes, I was there! Man, that was a great summer of an amazing year where I was lucky enough to attend concerts by The Who, Queen, Peter Frampton, Yes, Aerosmith and Jeff Beck, among others that my well-worn memory is now too hazy to recall. Happy holiday weekend, everybody!
Photo of Anaheim Stadium on July 3rd, 1976 Courtesy of Ang Jones
Thanks to my eagle eye, which spotted a FaceBook update for the page dedicated to promoting the film Anvil! The Story of Anvil!, I was able to snag two tickets for last night’s “Anvil Experience,” taking place at the East Village Cinema on Second Avenue, about a ten minute walk from the Chickpad. The Anvil Experience is part of the promotional tour for the film, where they show the Anvil movie, and then afterwards Anvil play a live set of about six songs. Continue reading Gail and Geoffrey’s Rad Anvil Experience→
Bruce Live at the Izod Center, NJ (Photo by Geoffrey Dicker)
Yesterday Geoffrey took me to see our very first ever Bruce Springsteen concert. I will willingly confess that – save for “Tunnel of Love” and few of his ballads like “No Surrender,” which is a work of genius – I have never really been a huge fan of his music. Still, you can’t help but know the words to every one of his songs, because they have been all over the radio and practically in the ether since I was about fifteen years old. Anyway, Bruce and the E Street Band played for three hours and blew our heads right off. Geezus god, what a fan-fucking-tastic performer that guy is. Fan or not, everybody should see him at least once. He’s amazing.
