WOMAD (with Peter Gabriel, Jah Wobble, Ziggy Marley, PM Dawn, Crowded House, James, Stereo MCs) - The Polo Fields, San Francisco, CA - Sept 19, 1993

I have to say that this show will always remain one of the magical days in my life. From start to finish it was quite an amazing event.

I can’t remember if we stayed the weekend in San Francisco or not. I want to think we did, because it was a really long day. The Polo Fields are in Golden Gate Park, which is one of my favorite parks anywhere. It is a sprawling park with several museums, an aquarium, and lots of really big spaces like the Polo Fields – which I imagine are designed for playing Polo. When you walk into the space, it just goes on and on and it is hard to imagine you could get to the end and have a concert there.

Another great thing about the day – fall in San Francisco. San Francisco is a funny place for weather, sometimes it just really sucks, but fall seems to be the best. It was perfectly warm and crisp (at times too warm perhaps considering the amount of people there) and the smell of fall was in the air.

We got there fairly early, before noon I would say, and we managed to find a free parking spot not too far into the park. It was a bit of a hike in, but, like I said, it was a nice day, so we didn’t mind.

This was probably my first real festival show. I never did make it to a Lollapalooza, nor did I ever see Lillith Fair. I came close to those a couple of times, but skipped them for some reason or another.

My primary reason for wanting to come to WOMAD was Peter Gabriel. I had a chance to see him when I was in high school and he came to Reno on the So tour, but the show got cancelled. Sledgehammer was really my first exposure to him as a kid – and I have to admit I never liked it until I saw the video. For some reason, those headless dancing chickens always make me laugh. After I recovered from my first impression, I really grew to love his music. There are several I still consider among my absolute favorites, and there are several that are always good for a mix tape (or CD now).

WOMAD stands for World of Music and Dance, and I have to admit I am not really sure what the whole point is, but I know that a big part of it is finding, recording and releasing different kinds of music all over the world. Kind of a musical outlet for the rest of the world. A different take I suppose on the whole aid for third world countries thing – not donating money or campaigning for world powers to do so, but instead to give folks in poorer countries the opportunity to be heard. And this was the first of many festivals to this effect – but the only one I ever saw.

Anyway, back to the day. When we arrived, we were awed by the sheer size of the place, and the massive swarm of people. People just kept on streaming in. As it was a festival, they had lots of little booths with people hawking jewelry, hemp clothing, and that kind of stuff. We wandered around these until the show started. One lowlight of the day was the food situation. We waiting forever in line to get some chicken kebab things – only to have them run out just as we made it to the front of the line. I don’t remember what we wound up doing for food – which is unusual for me since I am pretty much unbearable without it.

Since we got their fairly early, we managed to be pretty close to the stage. Not overly close, but we could see plenty well. When you turned around and looked back, it was an unbelievable flood of people behind us. Later we learned that at its biggest point, there were 100,000 people there. Pretty amazing.

Of the shows we saw, it’s funny what I remember and don’t. I remember Ziggy Marley, mostly because of the crowd’s reaction to the music. I also remember the Stereo MC’s. Not sure what they have ever done again, but I did see them.

Peter Gabriel was by far the most memorable though. When he came on stage and the band started playing Solsbury Hill, it gave me chills. It sounded so much like the CD you almost thought it was pre-recorded – I don’t know how you get that kind of sound in a venue like that. In fact, we might have thought it was pre-recorded if all of a sudden, a minute or so into the song, the band abruptly stopped playing.

Peter saw something going on he didn’t like – I am not sure what it was. I think that some people were climbing up on something to try to see better, and some guy was pushing another off or something. Whatever it was – he stopped singing. Pointed at the guy and said something like – “Hey, you. Yes you. Stop that.” I can only imagine how humiliated that guy must have felt – to have Peter Gabriel stop his show in front of 99,999 other people and tell you to stop.

Since it was kind of a long night – he only sang something like six songs total, but all were amazing. It was an amazing wrap up to a magical day, and one of the shorter rides back to Reno I remember from the City.

A couple of years ago I sold a bunch of old concert t-shirts on e-bay. The one I have from this show has shrunk and faded, but I still can’t bear to part with it. Right now it is in a storage shed in Portland, Oregon.

Dredd Zeppelin - Tahoe City, California - September 12, 1993

I know that this show was in North Lake Tahoe – I am pretty sure it was Tahoe City. I think the venue might have been Humpty’s – but if that is right, one of my older posts is wrong, so I am going to leave this one ambiguous.

I must say that early September in Nevada (and Lake Tahoe) is probably my favorite time of year. It just starts to cool down a bit at night, and the fall scent in the air is crisp and fabulous. I probably remember this night more due to the smell than anything else.

This was my first solo concert with PCH, the first of many. I think I thought it was kind of a date. I am not sure what he thought it was. He might let you know though, or maybe I will get another spam comment. What is that about?

Anyway, Dredd Zeppelin is a very interesting band, to say the least. They consist of a lead Elvis impersonator – Tortelvis (sp?) and some other folk, including a guy who sometimes plays in just his underwear. As their name suggests, their primary gig is covers of Led Zeppelin songs, with Elvis-like vocals. If you haven’t heard them, I guess you can imagine what they might sound like.

Tortelvis himself is quite a sexy character. He dresses not as young sexy Elvis, but rather as fat Vegas Elvis, with the overdone white outfits with big bell bottom pants. He has a nice Elvis boufont hair do, but since he doesn’t have his own Abes, he fashions sideburns out of what looked like black electrical tape.

There was a pretty small crowd at the show, so we were able to get up pretty close. I am very pleased to say that I was among a few who got to touch Tortelvis’ big belt.

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (with Ethyl Meatplow) - The Limelight, Reno, Nevada - September 1, 1993

This was a very bizarre evening on a number of different levels. I believe it was the first show I ever saw at the Limelight, one of the many failed dance club ventures that have come and gone in Reno over the years.

It started out pretty much as just a dance club without a lot of shows, with the main attraction being free beer for the first couple of opening hours. I guess the idea was to attract more people to show up before 11 p.m., which is the time that most folks decide they are sufficiently sloshed enough to be seen in public dancing. So, if you got there early, very often you could get in without paying a cover, or for a nominal cover, you could chug all the cheap beer you could stand in a short period of time. For dancing, PCH and I would often show up early. He didn’t drink, so he would keep bringing me extra beers so I could maximize my intake. Then when the binging was over, we would dance. Ugh, just the thought of drinking all of that bud light makes me want to chirp. Life is too short to drink nasty beer.

Another fixture at the Limelight (as well as the Rodeo Rock Café, which had a regular Tuesday night dancing thing sponsored by the alternative radio station) – was a guy we named the Lollapaloser. I think one of my friends actually knew him – and I seem to remember he was a coroner or something like that – but that may just be my overactive imagination. Anyway, this guy always wore his Lollapalooza shirt and always showed up at every alt-rock event in the greater Reno area. He danced pretty wildly and for some reason, was always staring at me like I was food. But he never really talked to me or anything and I could never figure out what his deal was. Of course, I was normally surrounded by guys (pretty much all my friends were guys) and I generally tried to get away from him whenever possible when I saw him on the dancefloor. I seem to remember once he came over to our table, surreptitiously to talk to DA, but still just kind of stood there and stared at me without saying anything. It was very odd.

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult had a new album out at this point, with a catchy song, “Sex on Wheels.” I had seen them before, my first bar show in Las Vegas, and while the new album wasn’t my favorite, I figured they would be worth seeing, and they were.

I had no idea what we were getting into with Ethyl Meatplow though. I imagine we felt the same kind of uncomfortable sensation you may feel when you caught your parents having sex, or when you’re watching Naked Lunch with your great Aunt. I can’t remember all the details – PCH may fill them in – but there was a man/boy/girl who just came on the stage to be used as a sex prop, and the visuals were rather disturbing.

After the show, we were all kind of stunned. But not as stunned as when PCH had the band sign his ass. Well, not directly. I think he put a sticker on his clothed butt and had them sign that. I wonder if he still has the autograph?

New Order - Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View, California - July 24, 1993

This second time I saw New Order was a truly memorable event for a number of different reasons…again, all loosely related to the event itself.

I’ll start at the beginning….as with most shows, especially those out of town, we purchased our tickets for this one pretty far in advance. It isn’t like today, when you need to buy U2 or Dave Matthews Tickets six months ahead, but basically, we bought stuff probably a month or two ahead of time based on when we heard about the event. With New Order, I probably heard about it about the same time tickets went on sale, as I was a pretty rabid fan.

In between purchasing the tickets and the actually show, CF and I had a rather messy breakup. I need to make the disclaimer that I am bitter or anything – we remain very close friends to this day and he will probably be reading this blog sometime – but, I am just stating a fact. It was pretty awkward, and honestly, I expected that he was just going to do the chivalrous thing and say, hey, take my ticket, and offer it to someone else to go with you.

But no. He liked New Order too, was looking forward to it, and wanted to go. I don’t remember much about it now, but I suspect we fought a bit about it but resigned that it we were still going to try to be friends, so it was okay for him to go.

On the way to the show, right around Donner Pass, I remembered that I had left the concert tickets at home, and we had to turn around to go back and get them. I guess it could have been worse…I could have remembered in Mountain View! For a long time, we joked about this on these road trips – “oh, I forgot the tickets, psych!”

We went with MM and then picked up CA along the way. This was probably one of the first and only times I hung out with her. I think we picked her and her brother up near Sacramento, then dropped him off in Berkeley. The car was too small really, so I remember C riding in the back.

There were three bands – 808 State, The The and New Order. We basically missed 808 State because of our lateness. Then The The came on and played only a few songs before their sound went to crap. Luckily, I saw them again later, opening for Depeche Mode.

After New Order, we spent the night at CS’ parents Chicken Ranch in Gilroy, California, where he was having his annual shindig. Now he lives in Tacoma and has it an Oyster Ranch instead. I got to see him and have sushi with him last summer in Portland.

The Chicken Ranch was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. It’s hard to describe – a fabulous, sprawling house in the middle of nowhere. Large trees and other beautiful vegetation. Many different things to explore all around and inside the house. And there were a lot of pretty cool people there having a party. It was a great time.

The next day after the show, we went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival, quite a famous event in the Bay Area and one we always heard about growing up. PCH, that dog, got in for free with his press pass. The rest of us had to pay $8 for the honor of seeing a bunch of stupid craft stalls, seeing some lame bands, and having to buy more garlic-laden food. The only free food inside was the garlic ice cream. And yes, that is as gross as it sounds. It was a total waste of an afternoon. And what made it worse was that we had to ride home in PCH’s small Subaru wagon, sans air conditioning – with all of us sweating garlic in close quarters.

A Flock of Seagulls - the Lil' Waldorf, Reno, Nevada - July 19, 1993

My earliest memory of Flock of Seagulls is from elementary school, on the playground at St. Teresa’s. I think it was around sixth grade or so. I remember some kids talking about this new kind of music, that they called “new wave,” and how one of the kids had a new wave tape in his walkman, by a band called a Flock of Seagulls. They showed me the tape with a picture of a guy with funny, tall, bird like hair.

It was all the rage temporarily, though I think in a couple of years those kids switched to heavy metal the likes of Motley Crue and Def Leppard. Hey, we all had our periods of insanity.

At the time my main exposure to music was listening to AM radio on the Mighty 690 (see B-52’s) where I heard 80s classics like Oh Mickey, Tainted Love, etc. And of course the Mighty 690 played “I Ran” too, so soon I heard the Flock of Seagulls for myself.

I don’t know that I fully appreciated them until much later though. When I got to high school BB and AM loved Flock of Seagulls and had all their cassettes. I don’t have it anymore, but I think it was their second album, The Story of a Young Heart, which got me hooked. It was supposedly based on a guy the band knew who fell in love, out, then got depressed and killed himself.

By the time we saw the Flock in 1993, they were already way past their prime, but they did attract a decent size crowd at the Wall. This is one of only a couple of shows I saw with MM while she lived in Reno. The lead singer still had his signature blond spikey bird hair.

I must have enjoyed it at the time – enough to get the lead singer’s autograph anyway. I didn’t remember it until I scanned in the concert ticket.

Skankin' Pickle - Reno, Nevada - December 31, 1992

I guess I saw two Ska shows in a row, and both on special occasions – first my birthday, then on New Year’s Eve. Funny how you don’t realize these things until you look at them on a list.

I don’t have a ticket or anything for this one, and I don’t remember where it was exactly, except I think it was some divey bar on 4^th Street, maybe in Sparks. Might have been the Icehouse, but I am not sure. I think I went with CF and DA – I can’t remember if there were more than just the three of us though I would think DA would have a girlfriend with him as he usually did.

Unfortunately, what I remember about this show has little to do with Skankin Pickle or even music in general. It’s a bit gross, but it is the vivid memory I have about the evening – dinner.

For dinner we went to a place called Davo’s, and Italian joint, that had a few locations in the greater Reno area. I seem to remember we went to the one on Kings Row. Anyway, we went to Davo’s a few times, they had good food, generous portions, and pretty reasonable prices. But, unfortunately, my favorite dish was linguine with clam sauce. It had quite a bit of garlic in it and since it was late when we ate and I was starving, I kind of overdid it a little. This made the dancing, drinking and romping around during Skankin’ Pickle pretty unpleasant really, because it seemed like all of us did nothing but burp garlic all night. And it wasn’t just your regular old burp that you just keep to yourself. It was burps you shared with everyone around you. Yes, gross. Probably more detail than you wanted. But it gets better…

After we ate dinner at Davo’s that night, a short while later my mom told me a rumor about the place that she claimed came from a very credible source. Supposedly, Davo’s was closed by the health department in Reno because Davo added a very special ingredient to his sauces. Something quite personal to Davo…and quite reminiscent of linguine with white clam sauce, if you know what I mean. Yes, gross. I haven’t eaten linguine with clam sauce since. Which is disappointing…since it was one of my favorite Italian dishes.

It sounds like an urban myth, and maybe it is. But my mom was a nurse in state service, and supposedly she heard it from her friend in the Washoe County Health Department. Anyway, it all ties pretty nicely in with Skankin Pickle, doesn’t it?