Your Most Unusual Concert Experience

Hey! At least you didn't throw him your stash!

 

Love dem Feat!

 

commonplace to throw a dube onstage at 311 shows when they play "who's got the herb." you literally see like 50 joints being thrown onstage.

 

hmm...I guess this post would be a good suporting post of why I liked LA. In Tel Aviv, has-been bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and De La Soul play and it makes the front page, just for having the guts to play here, and it sells out with people who have never heard them. So this has been on my mind, since I'm desperate to see good live music. In my defense, I'm mildly autistic, so "unusual experiences" are a mainstay with me, and lying is really difficult:

Lou Reed at the Wiltern in LA.Someone heckled his very effinate singer and Lou Reed stopped. Pointed him out and told him to get the "f***" out of his show. When he wouldn't leave he asked security to throw him out. They did and everyone applauded.

Magnapop, in the early 90's at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia. Magnapop was a chick-rock band with a dude drummer. Pretty standard issue for the 90's, but I was a naive teenager and I had a crush on Ruthie Morris. She was a great performer and I'll never forget her getting her sweat all over me. It was like being a teenage girl seeing Elvis or something. I was really happy all night.

Old 97's at the Troubador in LA. I was able to get in the very front because a friend of mine was there already. I stood in front of Ken Bethea (the guitar player) and got all nerdy and sat for two hours staring at his telecaster playing. Ater the show, I stayed to have a drink, and noticed he only had two fat girls with him, so I didn't think he minded me talking to him. Ended up hanging out for a while and I've exchanged emails. Very personable and real guy. Also, the show was released on DVD. I watched it a few times but I don't recall seeing myself. Maybe, that was me, I'd think for half a second, but then they'd cut to a hot girl or the lead singer. But if you have the DVD and you want to look for me, I'm the long haired guy wearing a Longhorns shirt in front of the guitar player.

Hope Sandoval at the El Rey in LA. Went with some friends. It was a good show. The next day I talked to my friend. Turns out he was backstage because he knew the drummer from tours when he used to play with the Lemonheads. He said Hope Sandoval was drunk and pissed off backstage and was looking for an easy lay. Reportedly she likes tall blond guys (and girls). She had apparently broken up with one or the other. He said I missed my 15 minutes, and that he would have been able to bring me had I wanted to go. Not sure if it would have worked out that way, but I was haunted for years by even the prospect of being able to sleep with a drunk and psychotic Hope Sandoval.

Belle and Sebastian, Wiltern, LA. After a good show, me and my ex-girlfriend went upstairs in the building I lived in. I could swear I saw the band in the bar there, but my ex said I was stupid, and told me to go home with her. The next day the same friend from the Lemonheads said that not only were they there, but they drank all night and that he had a connection with <i>them</i> because their <b>merchandise girl</b> was the same one they had when he was with the Lemonheads.

Funny thing. I never heard of the Lemonheads until I met him.

Willie Nelson, Wiltern, LA. Tickets sold out and I called my mom in an act of desperation. She was a teen-aged friend (ex-girlfriend I'm pretty sure) of Willie's harmonica player, Micky. She still had his number and told me to call him. I got to hang out in the bus (the band's bus now, not WILLIE'S bus) and I was told to stay out of the way, and not to talk to Willie.

Nothing terribly odd happened. No one was getting high or drinking wiskey. Mickey told me that everyone was too damn old, and that music got better when everyone started slowing down the drug use and drinking. I just got to see Willie for free, which was great, if you happen to think Willie is God. For my good behavior they invited me back for the second night. I went.

Sugarcubes, Dallas, late 80's. They opened up for Public Enemy who opened up for u2 (I'm not lying, promise). The Dallas fans didn't know who they were and were not into it all. At one point Bjork freaked out because a spider was on stage and stopped. Then Einer Orn (think that was his name) stepped on it and said "It's ok, we are Vikings." Later he said to the lukewarm crowd: "We could say thank you, but we won't."


A few years later, Bjork alone, in a club in Dallas, shortly after Aphex Twin left (and was heckled for not making "music"):
Some guy in the front got beat up or stabbed or something. The room was seriously, seriously overcrowded and I was starting to feel pretty claustrophobic myself. She freaked out and started screaming "There is a man bleeding on the stage, there is man bleeding on the stage." They dragged him off and assured Bjork he wasn't going to die. She finished the show but looked pretty freaked out. Dallas fans always sucked at every show I went to. Too much cologne and hairspray, too. And pushing. And fights.

Years later I saw her with an ex-girlfriend in LA at the Hollywood Bowl (why do all girls like Bjork?). It was seriously the most drugged out crowd I had ever seen in my life. Tens of thousands of people waving their cigarettes in the air, staring at them and unable to articulate coherent speech. I was bored, and there was no one to talk to except the people in the concession stand.

Belle and Sebastian, at the Greek Theater, LA. I wanted good tickets since my last one was really bad. All my friends made fun of me for liking them (including the same ex-girlfriend who was into Bjork). I bought pit tickets, meaning we didn't have a seat, but we were standing in front of the stage. Almost everyone in the pit with us were drag queens, and one point they stormed the stage and danced. No one cared. They kept playing, security kept them from touching anyone, and politely scooted them off after the song was over. Surreal.

The next two aren't so much concert experiences, but they are good anecdotes.

I was in the Temple Bar in Santa Monica with a friend after work, and there was this really loud Irish guy drinking whiskey, playing pool and hitting on everything that moved. He was really funny, and we ended up getting really drunk with him, and I mean REALLY drunk. I took a $50 cab ride home.

At the end of the night we asked him what he was doing in town. He said he was Morrissey's road manager. We didn't believe him. He said if any of us could sing a Morrissey song he'd give us free passes. All I could think of were Smiths songs, and it hurt my brain to think of lyrics. he kept cutting me off and saying, "no a MORRISSEY song, not a Smiths song."

So I managed to sing "Last of the Famous International Playboys." He said I should be embarassed at my singing, because the impression was too good.

He said no one should be proud of sounding like Morissey. He gave me the number of a New York cell number and told me to call him, and he'd get me and my friend in. I called my friend around 4 the next day. Neither of us went to work, and we were both too hungover to think of leaving our houses. The last thing I wanted to deal with were screaming fans at a Morrisey show. I'm sure the crowd is scarier than Belle and Sebastian. So I missed my chance

Ok, here's my MacBeth moment.

I walked into the bar in the building I lived in and two of my neighbors were there and invited me to sit with them. They were choir singers for First AME in LA. For those unfamiliar, it's one of the largest (and oldest and most famous) black churches in the city. Excellent choir.

IWell, I'm neither black nor Christain, but we all had singing and being from Texas in common and we often drank together, and were good friends.

At a nearby table was this boy band guy, blond, skinny, drunk and full of himself with an entourage. I'm always want to say it was Justin Timberlake, but then, that's like the only name I know. If he wasn't famous, he certainly acted like he was, and in a really obnoxious way.

He came up to the table and said "I wanna sing you beautiful ladies a song." And started singing this "oooh baby I want you so bad" thing. They rolled their eyes while the guys friends giggled. It was really irritating. To me, it was if his buddies were all saying "Look, look how funny it is that he's patronizing those old fat black ladies."

After he finished Clemmie looked at me, and said, "I've heard better." Then she said "Yeah, my friend here is gonna sing something."

That meant me. I had never sang in front of people really back then except when I was drunk on the street or doing karaoke. Confidence issues.

"What should I sing?"

"I dunno, Elvis."

So sang "It's Now or Never". At the top of my lungs, in a crowded bar. I almost screwed up because I realized Wynona Ryder was watching me. She was with some wierd looking guy. Talk about stage fright.

I finished, and the guy next to Wynona cheered. People clapped. I was probably beet red, but the Justin Timberlake-boyband guy and his entourage made a hasty departure, and then everyone clapped again.

Later, one of my friends bought me a drink. I asked him who the guy was with Wynona Ryder.

"Beck," he said. I thought I was the coolest guy on earth. It was a very nerdy moment.

I sat and got drunk with my friends. They laughed and said the singers at First AME were better than everyone in town, anyway, and not to get a big head.

They are probably right.

 

Well I would have to say Butthole Surfers. '86 - Gibby was throwing things off stage and shooting them with a shotgun during the concert.

That was was probably the strangest thing I've seen a group do at a concert.

 

Those were some sweet stories.

 

Deji, are you a writer?

Great stories, that's why I love this board

 

Definitely the Replacements show at the Lawndale Art Annex in '85 or '86.

The whole band was wasted; to the point that they were incapable of playing. They stopped and started a couple of songs and then Paul apologized and said everybody deserved a refund. Then he started throwing cash into the crowd. It turned into a near riot.

The Goo Goo Dolls (back when they were a punk band) opened for Gang Green at Power Tools. A couple of skin-heads started in on this little five-foot nothin' half black/half asian kid (looked just like Heinz Ward) and, eventually, they both jumped him at the same time. They got a couple of licks in before the kid pulled out some martial arts type moves and proceded to kick the ever-lovin' **** out of the both of them. Good stuff.

Any Butthole Surfers show in the '80's was pretty unusual. Most Sprawl shows were too.

 

Thanks. Yes. I'm getting my masters in Creative Writing. Unfortunately, I'm much better at writing things like this than stuff for my job and...my thesis.

 

LOL

You definitely have a talent at writing

 

heh. That makes ArtV, ima, and oomp all at the same show. (From previous conversations, I think Jeff was there too)

What a great show.

 

I loved that first album they did and they did put on a great show. I was surprised they played at such a small place. I thought they were going to be one of the next great guitar bands, but they seem to just vanish after that.

Do you or oomp (small world heh oomp) know whatever happened to them?

 

I forget the year. Rush was playing at The Summit on their "Power Windows" tour. I think they sold out one show and played a second show (the one I was at) which wasn't quite full (upper prom was pretty bare). Anyway, we got drunk in our seats. I don't remember much about the show. I remember this tall, dorky looking fellow in the aisle who I believe was an usher. This guy was standing in the aisle about 4 steps up from the floor in lower promenade on the back curve (I think it was section 107). For most of this show, the guy has some serious hops and arm flailing going on. He was really into it. What made it funnier was that everyone else was pretty much seated for most of the show in a kind of gel mode just watching the visuals on the screen and such. But, here's this guy that kind of looks like Napoleon Dynamite doing his thing. I swear this guy was on LSD. He made it a great show.

Another show...Deep Purple on the "Perfect Strangers" tour also at The Summit I believe...we had some really bad seats upper prom kind of behind the stage on the side. It was a great vantage point for watching the drummer from above. I've never seen so many wasted people in my life. This show was eventful for me personally because just two hours prior I was at a friend's house. We were high (yes...kids...stoned) and I was holding a double-edged Exacto blade in my hands. Well...dumbass friend grabs the bottom of the handle and yanks it out of my hand downward with zero warning or anything. So, I had two blades slice into my hand on two of my fingers. It made two nice, big slices and the scars are still evident today. So, I ended up leaving for Deep Purple in one hour with my hand wrapped up in gauze. I felt like a target or something. At several points during the show, the house lights went up and there were a lot of people with trays out with bongs and large amounts of WEED. These people had no inhibition whatsoever and they were everywhere. There was no stopping them.

And, there was that time for the Motley Crue "Home Sweet Home" tour where we took a limo to the show and got totally obliterated on the way. Two friends tagged along who didn't have tickets. Uhh...the show was sold out fellows. So, they were so wasted and, when we got there, asked about two people if they had tickets for sale while they had very little money while we just ignored them and went directly into the show. The friends ended up passing out at The Summit where they were then arrested for intoxication.

Okay...so none of that is too unusual. People go crazy, smoke dope, and get arrested at shows all the time. The most unusual time was at an Aerosmith show for one of their sorry ass tours where they were doped up bigtime on heroin. Steven Tyler sang like ass. In fact, he sang like ass so much that the biker dude behind me, with his biker friends, ended up blowing chunks on my head with no warning. Get this...I was on the front row of upper prom. This sh*t sprayed over the railing onto lower prom as I got caught in the path. I had chunks of sh*t in my hair. As you can imagine, my reaction was really mean not even knowing who or what was responsible. I just wanted some payback. But, I turn around ready to act when I see this biker dude basically about to pass out acting totally sickly so I was like...f*ck...a terrible accident. No retaliation. I did get several apologies from him and his biker friends. But, I'm picking puke duds out of my hair the rest of the show and I stink like a puke beer bomb. That is unusual I think. To top that off, my stupid friend took off and didn't return the whole show so I was there all by myself watching Aerosmith stink up the place royally while I stink up literally. So, if anyone has anything more unusual, then whatever duder.

 

Butthole Surfers --> Backstage at the Ensemble Oh man...

 

I've been to a ton of Pearl Jam concerts all over the US, and I'll just share a couple of cool/unexpected things that happened at shows.

One was a 2004 show in Toledo on the Vote for Change Tour. Well this a two-parter I guess. Apparently it wasn't a surprise to everyone, but I got to the venue just as the opening act was finishing up, so I was shocked to see Neil Young come up on stage midway through the show. You can sum that up by saying it's like Jesus showing up unexpectedly in church service. They played Harvest Moon, Act of Love, All Along the Watchtower, Cortez the the Killer, and Rockin' in the Free World together. Anyhow, during Free World (oh yeah. Peter Frampton showed up for the last two songs also) there were something like five or six guitars going on stage. It was incredibly loud! The venue was a smallish rodeo arena with one level. I was standing in the top row with the ceiling about 10-20 feet above my head (hard to remember exactly). So the with the vibration from all that sound, pieces of fiberglass (or whatever) roofing start crumbling down on my head. It was so cool! Not because I particularly like asbestos in my hair, but because they literally blew the roof of the place!

............

Number two was in Dallas in summer 2003. I was a pretty good show, but Eddie pulled a clever gag on the audience. You might not have heard about it, but PJ was getting ragged by some people for doing a skit with a George Bush mask during one of there songs in some cities. It was all blown out of proportion, but that's just back story for the Dallas gig anyway. With Dallas being particularly pro-Bush they did something a little more subtle.

About 5 songs in, before I got Id, Ed holds up this big envelope with 'WMD' written in bold marker. He tells the crowd that 2 people in the audience have identical envelopes taped underneath their seats. Whoever finds these will get some backstage passes and after the show they'll all go out and tear up Dallas. Of course, at that moment, a thousand heads all duck beneath their seats as the bands kicks into the song.

Later on, Ed asks if anyone has found the envelopes yet. "No? Keep looking." Once more, towards the end of the show he asks again. "Really? Please don't tell me they weren't there. That would be upsetting. Keep looking."

And that was the end of it. I hope I told that alright. It was pulled off quite nicely at the show

 

A couple of the Marilyn Manson shows have invoved Manson either giving or receiving a quick BJ with his (then) bassist Twiggy Ramirez. I also remember the first time I ever saw them live, Manson played an entire song with a finger literally up his ass. It was interesting. Good times..

 

I saw Public Enemy play in a small club. They were going to open for U2 in a couple weeks and it was a rehearsal of sorts before their big tour. The concert itself was great, but Chuck D went on a tirade. For some reason he brought up PM Dawn and called them a bunch of "punk ass m-fers". Then he went on talking about how great Bobby Brown was. BOBBY BROWN? Are you kidding me??

Speaking of Bobby, that leads me to my second story. At was at another concert on a college campus. New Edition, Al B. Sure and Bobby Brown. Brown opens the show, gets on the mic and says, "I don't know what the f**k I'm doing opening for Al B. Sure...."

 

I've seen GWAR everytime they've ever been to houston so I've seen some weird stuff there. Some of it I even remember. Once on the way I stopped and bought a bunch of silly putty (my favorite head full of happy toy) and I'm enjoying the show working my putty and this metal goth girl comes over and offers me a blowjob for some of my silly putty. We had a great time that night.

Another time I saw My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult and durring one of the songs they had Jesus on the cross and the Devil bunnies were giving him a blow job. I just knew, if there was a god, the doors were going to slam closed and we were all going to burn like in the movie Carrie.

Surfguy I was at that Deep purple show... I sat down and this old guys asked me, "aren't you a little young to be here?" and I asked him back, "aren't you a little old?" We got along great when I passed him a joint right after the lights went down.