concert memoirs pt. 3 - aerosmith, jefferson starship, willie nelson & kansas

Aerosmith w/Pat Travers
Early 1983 (?) Met Center w/John Ticket Price: $10.75

This one is pretty vague. I recall that we sat pretty far back, Pat Travers played his hit ‘Boom, Boom (Out Go the Lights)’, and Aerosmith kicked off their set with ‘Back in the Saddle’. This was also that era of Aerosmith in which Joe Perry wasn’t with the group. He was out doing his Project.

That’s it.

Jefferson Starship w/Shooting Star
Early 1983 (?) Orpheum Theater w/Paul Ticket Price: Unknown

This show was intended for the larger venue of the Met Center, but lack of ticket sales (that’s my guess) moved it to the smaller Orpheum Theater. Lack of interest was also the reason John didn’t go and I went with another friend, Paul.

I think I felt somewhat obligated to ask John to this show, because of the previous two we had seen. He wasn’t interested in Jefferson Starship. He was wise.

As I have said before, I liked a lot of crap music in those days and Jefferson Starship’s was some of the crappiest. They were in the midst of their slow descent from ‘White Rabbit’ to ‘We Built This City’. So they weren’t as bad as they would get, but they were pretty lame.

Think Spinal Tap.

Willie Nelson & Family
8/25/83 MN State Fair w/Paul Ticket Price: $3.00

My friend Paul and I were at the great Minnesota get together, checking out the sights and eating the food, when we decided to get tickets to the Willie Nelson show that would be later that night. For many years running, it was traditional for the MN State Fair to have Willie as the first of their Grandstand concerts. We bought bleacher seat tickets on a spur of the moment decision.

It was a fun show opening and closing with ‘Whiskey River’. Well worth the three bucks.

Kansas
9/3/83 MN State Fair w/group of high school friends Ticket Price: $8.00

Unlike the Willie Nelson Grandstand show, this was a show that we planned on seeing and purchased tickets before heading to the Fair. But, I don’t have much to tell of this Grandstand show. Let me think..... umm..... There were fireworks after the show.