concert memoirs pt. 23 - buzzcocks, the the, killing joke & buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks w/Jazz Butcher

11/20/89 First Avenue w/John & David Ticket Price: Unknown

Here we go! We really were anticipating this show. The Buzzcocks was one of our favorite bands. I’m not sure about my friend David, but John and I had never seen them before. David is a few years older than John and I, and had gone to lots of concerts. He might have seen them before.

Anyway, the closest John and I had previously gotten to see The Buzzcocks was the fantastic Pete Shelley solo show (First Avenue 8/20/86). That show had impressed the hell out of us, but now we were going to see them all! We were ready!

They kicked off with ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With My Life’ and we went crazy. Slamming, pogoing, skanking! What great fun it was. And we kept going right through the chanting chorus of ‘I Believe’. “There. Is. No. Love. In. This. World. An-Nee-Mooooooore!”

We were spent. And we loved it.

The The
2/21/90 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: Unknown

Well, look here, it’s another all-ages show.

For reasons unknown to me this show had been rescheduled from 11/6/89, but what does it matter?

This was another of my favorite bands from the 80’s. I just love the album Soul Mining! This show was in promotion of their lastest album, Mind Bomb. A very good record in its own right.

I know it’s hard to call The The a band, when much of their material is Matt Johnson’s. Working mostly solo in the studio, then getting a touring band together. At least, that's what I understand to be true.

I don’t have a lot to relate about this show. I enjoyed it and I’m fairly certain that The Smith’s legendary guitarist, Johnny Marr, was in the band at the time.

Killing Joke
3/1/91 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: Comp. Tickets

I don’t have much here. But have you noticed that I had only one show listing for all of 1990 (The The, First Avenue, 2/21/90)? Well, I had really been dropping off the concert going thing since about 1987 or so. Both John and I had begun to lose interest in the whole process.

So, anyway, that’s it.

The Buzzcocks
11/18/91 First Avenue w/John, David & Diane Ticket Price: $11.00

Another great show by a favorite band. As I recall they set off again with ‘I Don’t Know What To Do With my Life’ and ended the main set with ‘I Believe’. And they rocked us with another outstanding punk rock show in between.

I think it was at this show that David’s girlfriend, Diane, attended along with us. And it was also the show at which I was feeling ill. I’m not sure what was going on, but I felt pretty lousy. Still, I pushed myself in the slam dance pit. I wasn’t about to let the band down.

So it was more slam dancing, sweating, pogoing, exhaustion, with a little illness thrown in for good measure. Lots of fun.

concert memoirs pt. 22 - wire, killing joke & the waterboys

Wire

6/22/88 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: Unknown

Wire is just so cool.

They had just released my two favorites of their albums: Ideal Copy and A Bell Is A Cup... I know their earlier albums were great as well, but those two just rank high with me. It doesn’t hurt that Ideal Copy has one of the greatest songs ever - Ahead.

Wire’s lead guitarist played with his back to the audience while making feedback at his monitor. You’ll remember that two of the trio, The Jesus and Mary Chain (First Avenue 12/15/85), did the same thing. But Wire still was able to be engaged with the audience, while Jesus and Mary Chain didn’t give a damn. Besides, Wire had much better songs.

The bass player’s bass had a sliding pick-up built in. He would slam it back and forth to making the way cool bangs that open the song Ahead. Did I mention that Ahead is one of the greatest songs ever?

Killing Joke w/Rifle Sport
4/19/89 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: Unknown

Possibly the most serious band in music history. But, I haven’t seen The Henry Rollins Band so...

Lead man, Jaz Coleman, dressed in a grey jumpsuit, his face painted as if for battle, exuding intensity. He was hopping, shaking, quaking with importance. His behavior can seem silly, but he pulls it off.

This also appears to be the first all-ages show that John and I attended at First Avenue. I have noticed an interesting phenomena at all-ages shows. As the audience waits for the band to take the stage they sit on the dancefloor. They just sit there.

The first time John and I had witnessed this behavior, we were mystified. What the hell were they sitting for? We asked a First Avenue staff member what the deal was. He told us he didn’t know why they did it, but the youngsters sit on the floor before concerts. Very strange.

The Waterboys
10/27/89 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: Unknown

This was a good show, but it didn’t live up to the first time we had seen them (First Avenue 11/6/85). It may have been due to the fact that Kurt Wolinger was no longer with the band, having left to form World Party. The violin player they added didn’t quite make up for Wolinger’s absence.