R.E.M. - Sports Arena, San Diego, California - October 28, 1995

We should have seen R.E.M. much earlier that year actually, but all in all I think everything worked out perfectly really.

When we found out that they were coming to town originally, we actually went down to the Sports Arena on the day the tickets went on sale and queued up to get better seats. Since you could almost walk there from where we lived, it seemed like a much more logical plan than trying to dial in to ticketbastard (this was still pre-internet days).

We were not fanatical about it or anything – no camping out – but we did arrive fairly early in the morning and there were probably about 50 or so die-hard REM fans there. As I remember, we all got numbers to be in the line that we actually took to the window with us. I don’t really remember any issues or scalper stuff, but perhaps my memory is bad.

Anyhow, we bought some decent seats at what we thought was a really over-inflated price. I guess this was really at the peak of REM’s popularity, they Green and Automatic for the People had really taken them mainstream and they were touring to support Monster, which had a hit with ‘What’s the Frequency Kenneth?’ as well. They had a pretty intellectual following and Michael Stipe was starting to become an icon for political issues as well as music. All of that success was reflected in the price of the tickets – as I remember, $68 each, which was outrageous at the time when most tickets were still in the twenty to thirty dollar range. We grumbled a bit about the price but figured it would be worth it.

A little while after we bought the tickets, the drummer Bill Berry had a brain aneurysm on stage at a different show and REM cancelled all of their tour dates until further notice. We got a full refund on the tickets and thought, oh well, maybe we will see them someday.

As it turned out, they did come back through in October, but this time, our friend JB managed to get us free tickets to the show through a connection with a local radio station. They were really great seats too, much better than our paid ones.

About the concert itself – I remember that Michael Stipe was scary skinny – anorexic looking – and he danced kind of funny, like my friend DA. The show was okay – not fabulous – if we had paid, we would have been disappointed. But given that it was free, well, woo hoo!

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.

The Offspring - Del Mar Fairgrounds, San Diego, California - March 25, 1995

I think the Offspring show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds marks the first time, at 25, that I really felt old at a concert.

Given my eclectic tastes, it was usually more likely I was going to feel young at a show (like at the Ramones, a few years previous), or at least, in the same general demographic of the other fans. But the Offspring was a whole different type of show. This time, the older people at the show were indeed someone’s parents, and instead of having a fun night out while their youngsters were being watched by a sitter, they were here with their kids, suffering though the show. I saw kids that looked as young as eight or nine at the show with their parents, as well as some slightly older who looked like they were with older brothers and sisters.

I guess I should have known what I was getting into. After all the Offspring are a silly, punky, skater-type band with goofy lyrics and catchy guitar riffs. But they were also pretty intelligent and had some interesting lyrics. All in all, the show was fun and short – the kids were able to get home at a decent hour.

The Flash Acoustic X-Mas (Sarah McLachlan, Cause and Effect) - Spreckles Theatre, San Diego, California - December 19, 1994

This was the first of two annual holiday shows we went to in San Diego. This one was put on by the Flash, I believe, and had a lot of bands verging on Adult contemporary. I think all of the bands played acoustically as well – it might have been called Acoustic Christmas, but to be fair, I really do not remember that much about it.

It was neat to see Cause and Effect – I had been a fan of theirs for a while but this was the first time I had seen them in concert. What was interesting is that they seemed to re-release their same album, only with a different name and cover. I went back to their website to check and I was right – their first two albums are virtually identical. They were probably touring to support their third album at this show.

Sarah McLachlan has never really been one of my favorites, but she does put on a pretty good show, and she sounds better acoustic. And, as with all Sarah McLachlan shows, it attracted a lot of lesbians. I guess she must be a hot babe.

I don’t really remember much else about the show. At this point I think we were still pretty giddy about being able to see so many concerts and were going to whatever looked even vaguely worthwhile. I think after this we got busy and more selective.