concert memoirs pt. 30 - love & rockets & buzzcocks

Love & Rockets w/Orgy
3/5/99 First Avenue w/John, David & Kjrsten Ticket Price: Unknown

The opening act, Orgy, was ok. Just ok. I hadn’t heard much about them before the show. I knew they did a cover of New Order’s brilliant “Blue Monday”. About all this new Goth band did was remind me that the bands they resembled were much, much better.

Case in point, the headliner Love & Rockets. This was my second time seeing this band, the first time since their hit, “I’m Alive.” I never thought much of that song. It isn’t an awful song, but L&R have much better songs. Songs that don’t have Daniel Ash doing that annoying growly voice technique.

L&R were doing a techno-industrial sound at this stage of their career. They still had much of their style from before (including some of the Ash growl), but they were bringing in that techo sound that you would find in the ‘Run Lola Run’ soundtrack.

I really liked it. The show was loud, fast and flashy. I had their latest album, ‘Lift’, so I was familiar with the new material. My friend, John, however was not. I’m not sure how much him enjoyed the show. David may have known the material, but David was always more accepting of new stuff if it moved him. L&R were really moving the crowd that night.

I liked the gimmick when, during the song “R.I.P. 20C”, David J had a sign out in front of him that listed all the acronyms used in the song. Not an especially exciting memory - it just stands out.

Correction 1/21/09: My friend, David, informed me that it was his now wife, Kjrsten, who attended the show with us, not his ex-wife, Diane. I made the correction. Sorry, David and Kjrsten.

Buzzcocks w/Lunachicks, Down By Law & Boris the Sprinkler
11/6/99 First Avenue w/John & Amy Ticket Price: Unknown

Uh, does that say “Amy”? A concert with a woman? Who is this Amy?

Well, it had happened before that I attended a concert with a woman (Paytee, The Jayhawks, First Avenue, 7/9/95), but this time was a bit different. Whereas the earlier show was with a female friend, this young woman was more important.

There’s a story here. I stated before in this series that I had worked at a shirt printing shop in Minneapolis. I left the company in the spring of 1999 to work at an ad agency. Although, I had left that company, I still kept in loose contact with the guys still working there. I would even visit if I got off early at the agency, which was rare.

Because I had left Cold Side (the printing company) was left with one staff artist and they needed two. They hired a talented, young artist named Amy.

I got off early on a Friday afternoon and decided to go pay a visit on my friends at Cold Side. The day had been a particularly stressful one and I thought it would be nice to unwind with my old coworkers.

When I arrived, I was almost immediately set upon by one of the printers. He was so excited he was like a little puppy. Jumping around me and telling me that I just had to ask Amy out. He said she was perfect for me. That she was so much like me that they had taken to calling her Amy/Jim.

I wasn’t much of a ladies’ man (still ain’t much of one) and any talk of getting me involved with a woman made me want to run for the hills. I ain't gay. I'm just afraid of women. I told him if he didn’t settle down I might leave.

I didn’t leave.

A group of us ambled over to a local bar (Amy was in the group). Amy and I sat together and, as the night wore on, we found the rest of our group had all left. We didn’t close the bar, but pretty close to it. I got her home, we hugged, and we parted at the door.

She told me that I had nice hands.

Well, as evidence that the printer was right about how much alike Amy and I were, we each had a ticket for the Buzzcocks show the next night.

This brings me to this entry’s show. John and I headed to First Avenue together and we met up with Amy there. The three of us sat in a corner somewhere upstairs as the opening acts played. John and I have always had a habit of irreverently joking around. We would joke around just about anywhere whatever the situation. We were joking around that night and Amy joined right in. Amy is very funny.

The Buzzcocks played and they were great as always. Amy and I opted to stay off the floor, but John was itching to get into the slam dancing. Off he went, but he didn’t last long. He came back winded. Well, we weren’t getting any younger.

When the show ended, I didn’t hang out with Amy. I know, I know. I just met her and I wanted to take things slow. Yeah, sure! I was scared.

Well, I would be seeing more of Amy, after all, she did become my wife.

concert memoirs pt. 12 - the waterboys, love & rockets, the jesus & mary chain & the fall

The Waterboys w/Figures

11/6/85 First Avenue w/John & Kelly Ticket Price: $5.00

This was one of John’s favorite bands. I liked them, but I wasn’t as into them as John was then. I really liked ‘This is the Sea’ (the album they were promoting for this show), but their first two albums (‘The Waterboys’ & ‘A Pagan Place’), I thought, had suffered from too many wordy songs with some awkward melodies mixed in with some good songs. ‘This is the Sea’ was a more complete and satisfying album.

We brought our friend Kelly along for this show. He had come along with us to The Red Hot Chili Peppers (First Avenue 11/21/84) show previously, but this time he was in for a much better show. The Waterboys were on that night. It was so good. What a great concert. Kurt Wallinger was with the band at that time and he really brought something special to their sound.

John told me that a couple weeks after the show he was hanging out with somebody, listening to the college radio when a Waterboys song played. That got John talking about how great the show was. As the song ended, the DJ came on and mentioned the recent show and stated that people were still talking about the outstanding performance. How true.

I don’t remember Figures that night, but it was probably the first time seeing them. John and I would see them a couple more times at the Cabooze or the Uptown Bar. They were a good live band with a little of the REM influence. One of the band members was fond of doing some very high jumps while playing.

Love & Rockets w/Crossfire Choir
12/9/85 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: $5.00

Opening bands at First Avenue usually didn’t attract much attention. Unless the band was pretty well known in their own right, spectators would tend to hang back, leaving the first fifteen or twenty feet from the stage fairly empty. People just didn’t want to commit to a band they weren’t sure of.

To be honest, John and I would do the same thing. This night, however, we ventured a little closer to the stage. I don’t remember if the band was any good. We’d never heard of them before or since. Yet, there we stood.

At some point, the lead singer offered a copy of their latest release to anyone who’d walk up and get it. John figured, “What the hell?” and he walked up and grabbed a copy. I don’t know if John has ever listened to it.

That’s about all I remember of the night. Usually, I forget the opening band, but this time I don’t have anything to relate about Love & Rockets. It’s not that I didn’t like the band, I must have lost those brain cells responsible for remembering that show.

The Jesus & Mary Chain
12-15-85 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: $5.00

This one. Oh, brother.

First of all, it was Sunday. Back then bars in Minnesota closed at 12 am on Sundays instead of 1 am. I know that you people in the bigger, more hip and happening cities probably think 1 am is too early, as well. Well, that the way it was. I think they go to 2 am now.

As I said, the place was going to be closing at 12 am and these twerps didn’t take the stage until 11:15 pm or so. That didn’t give them much time to play. And it seemed as though it was an awfully long time before they got onstage after the warmup act. Whoever they were.

These guys were supposed to be the second coming of The Sex Pistols, so maybe they were doing a punk thing by making us wait. Maybe they were upset that the bars closed so early. I don’t know.

When they finally started playing, two of the band members spent the entire show with they backs to us making their signature feedback sound while the lead singer droned on disinterestedly. The lead singer had a guitar draped over his shoulders, but he barely touched it. He’d strum the open strings here and there, not even bothering to play a chord. As far as I could tell, the guitar was more or less decorative.

They were bored. We were bored. It was over in less than 45 minutes.

The Fall w/Summer of Love
3/10/86 The Guthrie Theater w/John Ticket Price: $10.50

The Fall is another of John’s favorite bands. He liked the arty, deconstructive sound of bands like The Fall & Sonic Youth. I was more into melody, so I had a harder time with The Fall. But I still liked a lot of their stuff.

Also, the Guthrie just seems like an odd place to see a band. It’s probably just me. It was a bit more of an uptight environment. They wouldn’t allow us to dance in the aisles. We had to stay in our little designated seating areas. Of course, this was true of most of the other arenas, auditoriums and theaters.

We had to content ourselves with grooving at our seats. Not as much fun when John and I had become accustomed to seeing shows at First Avenue.

I don’t have much else to relate. It may have been the last time we would see Summer of Love and the cello gal, however.