Best show by bands I’ve seen multiple times

Cheap Trick, El Paso Civic Center, early 80’s. Other than seeing Willie Nelson with my parents and brother, my first rock concert was seeing CT with Axe and Aldo Nova as the opening acts. This band never failed to put on a good show. They put out catchy, almost pop, hits on every album. DREAM POLICE is probably my fave non-live album. I remember the concert tee being gray with black sleeves, one of those baseball ones. My brother took me to this show. God bless him. Ever since, the smell of beer, smoke, and sweat remind me of all the crowded spaces I’ve experienced. “I Want You to Want Me” will forever rock in my world.

Los Lobos, Tempe, AZ, 2000. I don’t remember the name of the club, but I do remember that it was warm, inside and outside. While I’d seen LL in larger places, I was excited about seeing them up close and personal. I was about five people from the stage at the beginning of the set, and real close by end. So close I scooped up a guitar pick used by Louie Perez. I remember how they looked so relaxed and comfortable on the small stage. I could see the smiles on their faces and how they played around while they shuffled instruments. Guitars of all sizes and sounds. I also remember that David Hidalgo was in the audience during the opening act (no one known). He seemed just like another face in the crowd. He held a beer and smiled.

Rage Against the Machine, Lollapalooza, Houston, 1994. They came on in the afternoon on the first date of the festival. They had one album this first time I saw them. And they rocked hard. Although the very white TX audience didn’t seem excited about the dreadlocked Chicano singer, I was pumped to watch them do their thing. It wasn’t rock. Not rap. A whole new sound that left me wanting more. While I would see them later in their career, they never seemed as excited to be performing as that first time. Maybe Zach de la Rocha didn’t (since other members are still making music.) RATM’s first album still gets my head bobbing.

Van Halen, Pan Am Center, Las Cruces, 5150 Tour. You know about the pick. You know about Eddie. I remember this as one of the last concerts where I would want to be near the speakers. Drawn to the wailing guitars and booming bass sounds, I absorbed VH into my organs. While I’d catch them later on, I had lost interest, I think, in the music they were making. I think it had to do with Hagar, but I know once I heard Nirvana that my sense of rock had changed. It wasn’t enough anymore to just have an awesome guitar player. The stakes seemed higher.

Albums I Would Have Been Listening to in 1991-1992

Here's a short, top ten list of what I would have had either a) in my tapedeck or tape cassette holder (which was gray and looked very much like a miniature briefcase, made by CaseLogic) or b) in my CD player in my room:

10. KING OF THE DELTA BLUES by Robert Johnson
I had it on casette and occasionally listened to it but didn't get it for another decade or so.

9. ACHTUNG BABY BY U2
Only because my friends were listening to it. It took me another few years to buy my own copy.

8b. NEVERMIND by Nirvana
Something I became more interested in when my Religion Prof--with a specialty in Eastern Thought--mentioned them one day in class.

8a. TEN by Pearl Jam
As with 2b, I got this largely because of its immediate popularity, but loved it, especially playing "Alive" over and over again on my guitar, though it might have taken me a couple of years to learn it.

7. APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
I was still hooked to this album.

6. Something god forbid by LYNRD SKYNRD. I blame my first college roommate who was a good guy, but for some reason I was convinced that they were good.

5. That one by AEROSMITH, with the cow-like cover.

4. ERIC CLAPTON'S UNPLUGGED
I felt sophisticated when I listened to this, and even thought I might also look good in suspenders, tortoise shell glasses, and saddle shoes. I had to learn the hard way, but the album is still good, at least its musicianship is, and it kept me in touch with Robert Johnson, for which I was gratefeul.

3. TEXAS FLOOD BY STEVIE RAY VAUGHN
I read a biography of his that year--can't remember the title--and cried like a baby at the misery through which this man struggled. (Rich, you might put this one on right now, if you haven't drowned.)

2. JIMI HENDRIX'S AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE and ELECTRIC LADYLAND. I was so past ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? though I still loved it, but I was ready to explore the more complicated rhythms of melancholy and cool.

1. F.U.C.K. (For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge) by Van Halen
I was there when the store opened.

Not the most interesting list, but it's my list and unfortunately I can't revise it. Oh well.