Oingo Boingo - San Diego State Open Air Theatre - October 19, 1995

This was Oingo Boingo’s farewell tour in the fall of 1995 and definitely an end of an era for me. Because they used to come to Reno every year when I was in high school they were a big part of my life and I had a number of very odd experiences tied to them. The first time I ever heard them was actually when a few of us were getting ready to go to a Thompson Twins concert, a day I will probably never forget.

What is funny about Oingo Boingo is that it is probably just a footnote now in Danny Elfman’s long and prolific career in movies. I looked him up in the Internet Movie Database and he has well over 100 different film credits – from composing scores to writing songs to singing them on screen. It used to be a novelty for us to see his name in the credits at movies but now I can pick out his style even before I see his name roll by on the screen.

I still love all those old Oingo Boingo songs though, even if I don’t listen to them as much. They are still one of my very favorite live acts and I had a great time singing and dancing along every time I saw them, including this last time in Southern California. In contrast to Reno and the bay area, they always had a big following in SoCal so the crowd for this show was a lot more pumped up than I had ever seen before. It would have been great to see them in their final Halloween show that year, but this time, in the October warmth in the San Diego State amphitheatre, was still a great goodbye to one of my favorite bands.

Street Scene 1995 (Los Lobos, Stan Ridgeway, others) - San Diego, California - September 9, 1995

I went to two different Street Scene events in San Diego while I lived there and to be honest they both kind of run together a bit. I definitely remember seeing Stan Ridgeway of Wall of Voodoo fame – he is a cool guy with a deep interesting voice and it was apt to see him sing Mexican Radio, one of my favorite songs since I first started paying attention to music in my Mighty 690 days. Too bad I can’t remember anything else he sings and I don’t think I own a single piece of music from him. Maybe it is time to download something from iTunes.

As for Los Lobos – I guess they always seem to be one of those bands that are always in the background of some event for me. They played at both Street Scenes I saw and once in Portland when I was really there to see Wilco. They are definitely talented and put on a good performance but I have never really given them a passing thought after I see them live. Because they are sort of San Diego locals (well, East LA, close enough) they were a standard at every festival so I guess I took them for granted. They are still making music with a big following and have a really neat website.

Peter Murphy - Spreckles Theatre, San Diego, California - July 13, 1995

I was thinking about this Peter Murphy concert and trying to remember it, and I just realized that I have gotten it mixed up in my head with another goth-ish concert we saw at Spreckles, Dead Can Dance, which has another whole story wrapped around it. Huh. That being said, I cannot really remember much about this evening.

He must have been touring for Cascade, which I was not a huge fan of at the time though I have come to appreciate it more lately. Especially the last time I saw him play here in London – some of the best songs he does live now are from this album. I guess it grew on me over the years.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - SOMA, San Diego, California - June 16, 1995

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin are one of those 90s one-hit-wonder bands that I often forget about and probably would not bother seeking out now if they came to town. At the time of course, we were still in our honeymoon stage with the ability to see bands in town, so we went to anything that sounded worthwhile.

I have to say that Kill your Television has certainly lived on far beyond what I would have expected, including making its way onto bumper stickers and t-shirts. Still a great song and a catchier slogan.

Of course, again I can not really remember anything about the venue or the night unfortunately. But I did discover that the band is still around, with a cool website and even their own myspace.