I have been to a lot of rock concerts in my life. Most of them were when I was between the ages of 15 and 22, but there are two that stick out in my head.
- Whitesnake (1988) - I went to the Orange County Fair Grounds in NY (where I saw a lot of concerts) with a bunch of friends. Whitesnake was touring to support their self titled album. The Fair Grounds had their concerts set up on a dirt race track with the band in the infield and the general admission on the track itself. It was a pretty good place to see a show. Anyway, the concert is not what I specifically remember about that night. I know I ate something that didn't agree with me and I felt sick for the whole second half of the show. As we were walking thru the parking lot after the concert, I kept telling my friends that I felt like shit, but they kept saying I was being a pussy. Next thing I knew I was puking my guts out. The funny part was that I was leaning up against the front window to a pizza place projective vomitting in front of everyone eating. I remember looking up and seeing people eating.............stop...............look at me.............then all keep eating at the same time. It was just like when Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters is attacked by the "Vinz Clortho" beast in front of Tavern on the Green in Central Park. It craked us up later, because I didn't care that they were eating and they didn't care that I was throwing up!
- Ozzy Osbourne (1991) - I saw Ozzy on the "No More Tours" tour in support of the No More Tears album at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. I remember how packed it was. Everyone was getting rowdy and pushing towards the stage. There was one row of people between me and the "pit" where security protected the stage. I think Ozzy had just finished playing "Mr. Crowley" and he looks out at the crowd........sees us all pushing and shoving trying to get at the stage, and proceeds to yell out (in his drunken British accent), "If you bastards want to get up on stage, you've got me bloody, fuckin' permission!!!" Well that's all we had to hear. You could see the look of panic on the security guards faces as they braced for thousands of people rushing the stage. A fight broke out about 10 feel from me between some fans and a security guard, so the guys in front of us ran over to help leaving a HUGE hole in front of us. A few of us started heaving people over the pit and onto the stage. After a few people I thought to myself, "What the fuck are you doing?!?! GET UP THERE!!" I jump up on stage and get to less than 5 feet from Ozzy. I put my hand in the air and start yelling. The next thing I knew, I felt hands on my shoulders and BAM! I was flying thru the air back into the crowd. I weighed about 150 pounds back then, so I was no match for the "Brut Squad" they had working there. I landed on some people and then we all fell on the floor. As dumb as it is, I can remember that like it happened last week.
Do you have any concert stories?
13 comments:
I think I have only been to concerts that you would call wussy and girly. Sorry to dissapoint.
I would have thrown up, if I'd seen you puke, I promise. Well not now after almost 5 years of kids, but before that.
I related one of my concert stories in the comment section today. I will not rehash it but to many Ozzy fans I am known as the Fuck You Guy.
Well, I remember going to Woodstock 94 with my friend and her mother (who was at the original) We actually bought tickets....silly us! Since when we got there people were just walking though the unplugged metal detectors without a person in site to stop them.
It was a great concert, Metalica and Nine Inch Nails played the night shows....Nine Inch Nails was loud and fucking amazing!!
But my favorite part of the night was standing in mud litterally up to my knees listening to Melissa Ethridge do a Janis Joplin tribute. She was so good that if I closed my eyes I could have sworn it was 1969! But, then.....I'm a dirty hippie. And that night, after the mud slides....I showed it!
wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane.
This is hard....every concert I've been to is memorable in its own way. Exactly who I saw & when describes a specific point in my life, ya know? Bowie, The Who, The ORIGINAL Lalapalooza, Jimmy Buffet, Duran Duran (in 1984-My 1st concert!)...all great!
But, if I had to pick....the most memorable is The Ramones. I saw them three times in the 90's. The first was at the Stone Poney, then some little theater in Westchester, and the last time was at Roseland in NYC -- where I got my ass kicked in the mosh pit. Some huge-muscled guy picked me up and moved me to just outside of the pit, and kept me standing thru the rest of the show. At the end, when I turned around to thank him, he disappeared. My mosh pit hero remains a mystery!
my fav band is maroon 5 and i got to meet them in person with about 20 other people in a little room at the radio station before i went to their concert. got pics with them and everything. it was AWESOME!
I'll add on my vomit story. I saw Aerosmith in 94 in Lexington, Kentucky while I was in college. We went to Lexington early, but the other guys didn't want to eat lunch. The concert was great, but I was starved and I was chainsmoking as I did back then. It was also like 90 degrees in the arena and I was wearing my leather jacket. The concert ended and as I started to go up the steps to leave, everything went almost entirely black and I was getting light headed. I needed to get to the bathroom, but there were too many people in front of me so I just pushed my way to the wall and threw up what little was in my stomach. I felt better, my sight came back and I told me friends that we needed to go eat right away or I was going to pass out.
I remember taking my little brother to see Faith No More. They were opening for Billy Idol. We had the worst seats in the house. Last level, last row of seats. We watched the whole show with Binoculars.
I also remember the first time I went to see Slayer, who are infamous for having rowdy shows. The funny part was, that evey who was at the show was really polite. Every one was saying excuse me and apologizing if they bumped into you, lol.
Metal fans get a bad rap. I've rarely seen fights at these sort of shows. The only concert that I almost got into a fight at was Rush, lol, and that was because, we were standing up and the pot heads behind us, who were too stoned to stand, couldn't see.
I'll follow that "polite" Slayer story with one of my own, although I unfortunately don't have details.
It was at the "Clash of the Titans" tour at Madison Square Garden. For those that don't remember, the "Clash" was Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer co-headlining; all played the same length sets and rotated their positions every night. A then barely-known Alice In Chains opened the show.
My brother and I were already huge fans of Alice, but apparently nobody else knew them yet as this rowdy metal crowd just about booed them off the stage. Then came Megadeth, who were very good.
Slayer was due up next, and since nobody in my party were fans, we all decided to take a walk. We hung around out on the concourse and even watched (no sound, obviously) some of the Yankees game on a TV at one of the snack bars.
At the end of Slayer's set, we made our way back to our second level seats, and looking down onto floor level, we saw...a war zone. The entire floor section that had previously consisted of row upon row of neatly organized chairs was now one massive pile of trash, and there were few people left standing. Anthrax went on as scheduled, but with a much smaller crowd that was there initially. To this day, I wish I had stuck around to watch Slayer just so I could have seen what the hell happened down there.
What a difference between your two stories! I'll hold off on my concert stories; they're best left between me, the authorites, and my therapist.
-- david
I should note that I saw Slayer in the mid 90s. I think the rowdy fans, who used to annhilate every venue that they played at when back then had all grown up. Most of the people at the show where in their mid to late 20s.
Slayer shows were infamous in the 80s. They were getting banned from places because their fans were so rowdy. I have a video of them from 1988 where Tom Araya is pleading with the crowd to stop tearing up the chairs. The band has to pick up the tab when fans do that crap.
Melissa - It's ok. Someone had to like Hansen.
Fuzz - Fuck you? Sounds like a John Valby show. Ever see him?
Jenn - MY WIFE THE HIPPE EVERYONE!!
Kath - I used to porotect girls near the mosh pit also. Someone could get hurt very easily if they're not paying attention.
Becky - Meeting the band is always a good thing.
Fred - Faith was good in concert. I saw them open for Ozzy once. And yes, some shows are definately more rowdy than others.
Strutter - How do you not love Alice In Chains? OR THE YANKEES FOR THAT MATTER!
David - Good. I don't want to be an accomplice to your heinous crimes!
Only one super bad experience stands out in my mind and it's when Chris put his name in a raffle and won tickets to go see Lynyrd Skynyrd at the NY State Fair in Syracuse with a "meet and greet" before the show.
First of all, those motherfuckers were SO rude, I wish I never met them. Chris has pretty much boycotted their music ever since that weekend.
Not too mention the free tickets that came with the package he won weren't together or even in the same section for that matter! What the fuck?!
Ends up we just hung out together near the sound guy station and ended up meeting and getting our pics taken with the lead singer of Anthrax!
Johnny Van Zant makes me ill - he'll NEVER measure up to his brother Ronnie and has been riding his coattails for years if you ask me. LOSER!
Cathy - I see you're a little upset, huh?
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