i remember seeing the meat puppets back in 1987 at the Town Pump; that was one of the best concerts i ever saw. when i first saw nirvana, they were a dirty and harsh bunch of druggies who lived hard and certainly lived to rock. And they did rock; they were so loud that the solid wood bar at the Town Pump was vibrating like a xylophone key. ales were jiggling as they rested on the surface of that mighty bar. that was in 1988 or 1989; my last year at ubc. a short while later nirvana wouldn't be playing in places like the Town Pump.i remember seeing rem play the ubc thunderbird stadium in 1985. although michael stipe gave us the finest vocal solo at the close of the concert, it wasn't as close and harsh and intimate as the meat puppets or nirvana concerts. the best concert i have ever been at was the spirit of the west: when they played at the commodore ballroom in 1988. those guys played such fantastic music and they were spectacular as a live act. It was hard to sit down, you just had to get up and boogie. And cutting-a-rug at the commodore is so cool because of the horse hair beneath the hard wood floor: can you say 'bounce'!!? i saw the violent femmes play at the commodore, too. but, sadly, i wasn't feeling well at that concert.
it is weird to think that i went to see the Police in 1983 and 1984, and that ramona, my future wife was there. other memorable concerts i went to include billy bragg in 1986. he was so impressive with just his voice, a guitar and an amp. i remember a sonic youth concert in 1986-7 that stirred my ear drums. during 1985-6 i lived with the bassist for the grapes of wrath, a local vancouver band. i saw many - even too many - of their concerts. yet i did get to see a lot of very good opening acts that were young back then like sarah mclaughlin, 54 40 and my favourites, slow. slow never went on to do much in the recording industry, but they owned my ears.
6 comments:
I was at the REM concert at Thunderbird...did you see the opening act "guadal canal diary"? I remember really liking them! And Michael STipe fighting with that guy in the audience....and the HUGE hole in the floor right in front of the stage????
The concert I've ever been to was RhythmN'News, anyone else remember them? They were a christian band, and we went with Dad and Elizabeth Gimmaka and sang along to "Pharoah Pharoah, let my people go".
Ah, good times.
saw 54-40 at the commodore in about '93. they also played our dry grad in chilliwack. were you around for that vic?
my best concert hands down was U2. it was after all the golden stuff you oldies remember (i enjoy the war and boy and october too) but this was auctung baby at the coliseum. matt deserved one of the two tickets for staying on the ticket master line for, what was it matt like, seven hours, but he was pretty little.
so anyway my friend jenny and i drive in, in my little orange chevette. we find our way to our seats in the major nosebleed section...beHIND the stage. we're still just totally pleased to be a part of it all. an usher-type approaches us and asks for our ticket stubs. i say something smart alecky. he turns to my friend and trades our stubs
for
two
centre.
first row.
floor seats.
they were right there
playing for(what felt like)
pretty much
just us.
Great Canadian Party was good too Tragically Hip aaaand Spirit of the West I believe with some Mystery Machine on the second stage. My friend was going out with a guy from the Mystery Machine.
no, that was Kurt's grad.
can you believe it??
54-40 playing an exclusive little engagement for your high-school graduation!!
unreal.
kimrb: yes that was it! guadal canal diary was a fine band, too. hehe funny to think we were in the same place back then:)
I wish the Town Pump was still the Town Pump. I remember seeing Ginger (a re-tooling of the Grapes of Wrath) there just before it closed down and became whatever it now is.
I totally remember waiting on Ticketmaster all day for those U2 tickets. That was '92 I think. Wasn't that the Pixies last show?
Eric's Trip at the Anza Club was a great one, in '94. Weezer opened for them, and we were just sitting there cross-legged (about 60 of us or something), thinking "these guys are awesome."
I also remember getting into a car accident in the Acadian on my way to a CUB concert on Commercial. Pouring rain. The concert was good.
So many shows: REM with Sonic Youth... getting into another car accident after Yo La Tengo at the Starfish. Martin Tielli at the Starfish was the greatest.
In '99 my pal Jay and I worked the Kokanee Summitt in Creston, and 54-40 played at that.
And yes, I've also seen RhythmN'News, too! Twice. Once in Guildford and once in Winnipeg.
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