I ALWAYS get asked about this......


BLACK SABBATH:
1976/TECHNICAL ECSTACY....w/Ted Nugent and Mother's Finest. Not only was this the first concert I ever saw...it was also the first time I saw a band get booed off the stage (Mother's Finest was a FUNK band). Whoever booked this gig HAD to get fired.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD:
1977/STREET SURVIVORS......headliner was Peter Frampton touring "I'm in You". That album sucked SO BAD!!! Also there was The J.Geils Band WAAAAY before "Centerfold" and Dickie Betts from the Allman Brothers. Dickie played for around five minutes and left after kicking a buzzing monitor off the stage. J. Geils grooved like crazy and Magic Dick(harmonica) was blowing his ears off. To me this was a Skynyrd show because this was the last time they played in Philadelphia before "THE CRASH"

KANSAS:
1977/POINT OF KNOW RETURN......I went to this concert on a school field trip! NO SHIT! The opener was a band called Crawler with one cool song "Stone Cold Sober". Kansas was recording for their live album. I don't think they used any tracks from Philly, the Spectrum's acoustics are lousy.

FOREIGNER:
1977/DEBUT ALBUM.......First tour also for The Little River Band, who opened first. Then Rick Derringer played...not one guy in the band was over five foot tall. It was like watching midgets. Foreigner was great, even though it was clear that the bassist DIDN'T sing backup on the album....ouch!!! All for the low price of $3.50....no kidding!

HEART:
1978/DOG & BUTTERFLY..... I don't remember if there was an opening band or not. I do remember Heart opening with "Cooking with Fire" and Ann Wilson getting boinked in the mouth with a frisbee. The encore was Led Zep's "Rock and Roll". Nancy sang the shit out of it.

YES:
1978/TORMADO........Theater in the round. A nifty idea, the stage spins as the band plays. So you get to see everything.....eventually. Was a cool show.

JACKSON BROWNE:
1978/RUNNING ON EMPTY......I get a call from a friend who says she has a extra ticket for Jackson Browne. Eh, I wasn't doing anything, what the heck. I'm glad I went! The show reminded me of hanging out in the woods singing around a fire. Talk about casual. I still snicker when I hear "Rosie"....

STYX:
1978/PIECES OF EIGHT....Almost got crushed at this show. General Admisson and standing up front.......Bad combination. Anyway, a band called Angel opened up. The lead singer's name was Punky something-or-other. He has been immortalized by Zappa in a song called "Punky's Lips". And they are BIG!. So Styx was cool and I got to hear Dennis Deyoung, a wholesome, mom even likes him kind of a guy say "ASS!!!!!!" Hey, this was the seventies, this was a BIG DEAL......

RICK DERRINGER:
1978/IF I WEREN'T SO ROMANTIC, I'D SHOOT YOU......openers were some band named Fandango(who?) and Johnny's Dance Band(yuk!).The second band was a "hometown band done good". I don't remember what the big deal was, it was the first and only time I fell asleep at a concert. Derringer's new drummer was Myron Grombecker(later w/Pat Benetar) who couldn't cut the parts done by the last drummer.

BLACK SABBATH:
1978/NEVER SAY DIE.....The opening act was VanHalen on their first tour. They did every song but "Jamie's Crying". Sabbath of course was incredible. WHAT A CHAOTIC RIOT. Well, there was a lot of chaos, but no riot. Unbelievable show!!!!

RUSH:
1979/HEMISPHERES......another mismatched show... Rush and.......BLONDIE? Talk bout getting tortured! I mean Blondie!(NOT PRETTY!)The drummer got hit with a Heineken bottle from the third level(where the rogues usually are). Rush was cool. They did all of 2112 and both parts of Cygnus X-1. Where I was sitting I could see Neil's hands perfectly, which at the time was my idol. After the show I went to the hotel where the acts stay, asked where Rush was and the clerk said "DUH RUSSIANS?" Walking out the door in disgust I walked RIGHT INTO THEM. I still have the program with Neil and Geddy's signatures.

FRANK ZAPPA:
1979/TINSELTOWN REBELLION...... My first Zappa concert, TRIPPY! And if you look at the credits for "Easy Meat" you'll see that it was recorded at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia...I was there!!!(yay!) Also, I believe this was the first tour that women's undergarments were collected to be sewn together to make a HUGE quilt.

IAN HUNTER:
1980/NEVER ALONE WITH A SCHIZOPHRENIC.......Cleveland rocks!/Disco Sucks! What a party! Opened with SouthSide Johnny and the Asbury Dukes. Nothing but dancin' everywhere.


STUFF I SAW AT COLLEGE
I can't remember all the years so I'm just gonna rattle these off.......
Weather Report
Gerry Mulligan
Gordon Stoudt
Leigh Howard Stevens
Keiko Abe
Trinidad Folk Festival
Hungarian Folk Festival
Lionel Hampton
Louie Bellson
Mel Lewis


BLACK SABBATH:
1980/HEAVEN & HELL.....opened by Sammy Hagar before he became a "pop" star. First tour with Ronnie James Dio singing. He did OK. Banners all over the Spectrum screaming "WHY?, OZZY, WHY?"

ALICE COOPER:
1981/SPECIAL FORCES.......I actually got PAID to see this show.A friend of mine worked at the now defunct Emerald City(was the Latin Casino)and she calls my roommate and me and asks if we would like to earn a couple bucks. We're in college, we're broke.....SURE! Need ya for security, just stand there. NO PROBLEM! Who's playing? Alice Cooper? OK. Hang up the phone, jump around alot screaming,"WE'RE GETTING PAID TO SEE COOPER!!!" The opening band was called the Tigers. Complete with striped guitars, drums, pants, shirts....EVERYTHING. And they stunk. When the audience started booing them, the singer yells "OH YEAH? I DON'T SEE YOU OPENING FOR ALICE COOPER. And the shit hit the fan.....and the beer....and the shoes.....and God knows what else. Finally Cooper came on. The show was small and Cooper was great. The only bummer is that we didn't get to meet him, Alice was in & out. But we have pictures of his snake somewhere.

BLACK SABBATH:
1982/THE MOB RULES......opened by Alvin Lee and Ten Years After. Actually since Ten Years After was a band from way back, Alvin called this band Ten Years Ago. Still kicked butt, although not too many folks remembered the blues rocker. This was the tour SABBATH recorded "Live Evil"

RENAISSANCE:
1982/CAMERA,CAMERA.......pretty sure it was this album. Spyro Gyra opened up and did some serious Jazz/rock fusion. After hearing Rennaisance do "Mother Russia" I went and bought it the next day.

MOODY BLUES:
1983.......I don't remember them touring an album. But it was vintage Moodys, doing all the hits. Still trying to figure out why they have a member do nothing but play tambourine......

BLACK SABBATH:
1986/SEVENTH STAR.....opened by W.A.S.P. who was ok, but SABBATH at this time was reduced to the "Tony Iommi Cover Band" What a disappointment!!!! On top of that the light guy kept screwing up

DEEP PURPLE:
1987/HOUSE OF THE BLUE LIGHT......opening act was Bad Company with a Paul Rodgers sound-a-like. Deep Purple was great! They went off on tangents the whole time, which to me is a lot better than listening to a band belch out the record. The drum solo was in the first song(Highway Star)when's the last time you saw THAT?

JOHNNY WINTER:
1987.......Johnny usually doesn't tour on an album, so I heard. Anyway, I get up front at this small place that Johnny's playing. Stand right in front of him ..LITERALLY.. I'm only about 12 feet from the guy. I'm watching his hands flying and in between songs he asks me, "So, ya pick up anything?" and I told him,"Nah I play drums". He said "cool" and ripped apart the next song. After the fourth tune, I looked next to me....it was Tommy Keifer from Cinderella. During the rest of the show Tommy and I were high-fivin' and screaming YEAH!!! a lot. After the show Tom got on Johnny's bus.....They wouldn't let me on......BUMMER!!!

FRANK ZAPPA:
1988/BROADWAY THE HARD WAY......A Valentine's Day Show! This show was cool because I got to meet Zappa's family. I saw a buddy of mine up front and when I got closer, I saw an older woman with a big nose like Frank's. I asked her "By chance, are you Mrs. Zappa?" She smiled and said, "Yes". Then the others turned around. It seems that everyone notices the rest of the Zappas(Moon, Dweez, Ahmed, Gail) and this was the first time someone noticed HER. She was real nice and the Zappas are quite normal. Frank did his conducting the audience bit(clapping, grunting, etc.) and accepted presents onstage. He used an upside down teddy bear and a microphone to illustrate what would happen if Pat Robertson became president.

CINDERELLA:
1988/LONG COLD WINTER......The guys' first headline tour. Had to see the hometown guys. I used to see them every Saturday night doing the midnight show at a Club called the Galaxy. Don't rememeber if there was an opening act. I do recall Cinderella putting on an OK show. Tommy came down on a platform playing piano starting "Don't Know What You Got....."

SCORPIONS:
1991.......don't remember an album, but I do remember Great White opening(OH JOY). There was another band, but who remembers? My band's manager was trying to prove how good he was, so he hounded the crew of all three bands until we finally got to meet one guitarist from Great White. What a......thrill! Yeah...that's the word! Too bad it's the only thing the manager did right the whole time we knew him. This concert was a waste, but hey...the tix were free.....

JOHNNY WINTER:
1991......at the Jam on the River at Penn's Landing. All that I can say is.....WOW

JUDAS PRIEST/ALICE COOPER/MOTORHEAD:
1991.......I don't remember the tour name, but it kicked ass. There was two other acts..Dangerous Toys and a "Why did they put these kids on stage?" band. Lemmy was cracking jokes during his set. Cooper was....COOPER. Then Priest came up. There was a problem with the bass rig. Like NO SOUND! So they pumped up the bass drums....HOLY TOLEDO!! I thought I stepped into a WAR! It was INTENSE.....it would had been awesome......WITH A BASS!

SPINAL TAP:
1992/BREAK LIKE THE WIND.....That's right...the guys whose amps go to 11,who had drummers expire on and off the stage....THAT Spinal Tap. Absolutely Hysterical show. And the real weird part was 5,000 people were in on the gag(If you REALLY have no clue what I'm talking about, go to the video store and rent "THIS IS SPINAL TAP". You'll never bring it back)

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA:
1993/BROADWAY SHOW.....hey, metalheads/bluesmen are cultured too! I worked backstage in college for shows/operas, but this the first professional show I got to sit and just watch. Brilliant show, on the edge of my seat the whole time.

STOMP:
1997/BROADWAY SHOW.....If you are going to do anything before you die, GO SEE STOMP!!! 90 minutes straight of street acting, percussion, vaudville, etc. playing tubes,brooms everything but the kitchen sink(wait a minute.... they DID play kitchen sinks!)

BLACK SABBATH:
1999/REUNION.....After 20 hopeful years the original SABBATH lineup is back!!!! Opening was Pantera who had to waste a lot of time since the Deftones were ripped off(Yeah, EVERYTHING!!) Ozzy wasn't 100%, more like 85%, but he did the whole show with a bad throat problem. Sadly enough, Ozzy could only do one more show before his voice gave out completely. The rest of the tour was cancelled, followed by tons of bemoaning on the SABBATH posting board.

BLACK SABBATH:
1999/OZZFEST.....The last tour(so they say) before the name BLACK SABBATH is retired. There were two stages(duh). I saw the first act on the small stage,don't remember who they were. I went to see Primus, Slayer and Rob Zombie, but Godsmack was a serious bonus (band funks like a beast!) Pushmonkey and the Deftones were adequate.

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