I Saw Queen in Concert!

Let’s share rock concert experiences, shall we? This is one of those things you write about that totally “dates” you. But hey, like they say: “The minute you open your mouth, it exposes your intelligence, or lack of it.” Now I don’t know who exactly said that, but the way I see it, the minute you start doing anything, your age gets exposed! That is the beauty, and ugliness, of writing. It exposes you for who you truly are. Even if you fake it, the phoniness will somehow come out. No matter what, when you write, you put yourself out there! Speaking of putting yourself out there, here are my concert experiences…

The very first concert I ever saw was Queen. I was about fourteen. What an introduction to concerts! When I was in the Philippines around 1975, at age nine, I remember hearing “Bohemian Rhapsody” over and over again in jukeboxes and on the radio. It made me curious about rock music. I thought it was very cool. I remember the “opera” part in the middle of the song and thought: “How weird, to put an opera part in the middle of a song”. Little did I know I’d be looking forward to that part when I saw them live in 1980, at the Forum in Los Angeles. Billy Squire opened for them. He had his fifteen minutes! I was lucky enough to tag along with my two older sisters. It was the “Radio Ga Ga” tour. Yeah, I know. It was actually better because they played more of their greatest songs in the latter part of their career! I remember they ended the concert with Bohemian Rhapsody and the drummer kept banging on the gong in the end. What a memorable experience!

Thanks to my sisters again, I saw Styx around the same time. A band called “Triumph” opened for them. They were a very underrated band, and I don’t know whatever happened to them. (Maybe that means they weren’t that underrated!) Styx was also in their later years, on the “Kilroy was here” tour. I was looking forward to hearing “Come Sail Away” live! At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but later on it was really cool! I know all these great bands try to make comebacks, usually in their fifties! I’m just glad I saw some of them when they were a little younger. That and the whole “Tribute Band” thing is another column!

In 1982 I saw The Who, on what was called their “final tour”. Just to remind everyone, the word “final” only applies when you’re dead! “Never” is in the same category! But I love the Who, they will always be one of my favorite bands of all time. Pete Townsend will always be my hero, especially his solo stuff! He’s a genius! Just anticipating the concert was great! I get to hear “Won’t get fooled again” and “Baba O’Riley” live! Then I found out that The Clash was opening for them. Wow! I still remember punk was still sort of misunderstood at the time, but The Clash played “jazzy punk”, as I used to call it, and most Who fans didn’t quite get them at the time. I listen to The Clash now more than anything.

In 1983, I got introduced to a band called U2. Please read part two of this article. It is called “I Saw U2 in Concert! Part Two.” It needs a part two because U2 plays too big a part of my concert going experiences!

In the mid eighties, I saw a few concerts at The Greek Theatre in LA. I actually saw The Go-Gos there during their “Vacation” tour. Simple Minds played there and I saw them twice, with a band called The Call that I was all into, opening for them. Throughout the eighties, I hung out with different people in high school, and saw some hair bands, like LA Guns, Salty Dog, and countless others. I can’t even remember all the names! The loudest band I ever saw was AC/DC. I saw them headline for a hair band called Fastway, and with the Hells Bells, their “For those About to Rock, We Salute You” cannons, and the “heavy metal” loudness, my ears were ringing for a couple of days after the concert! In the mid nineties I finally saw Brian Setzer live, not with the Stray Cats, but with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I saw them twice at The Greek. I didn’t think the “swing-band-meets-rockabilly” was going to last, but I thought it was a cool time. I also saw Ozomatli a couple of times at that time. Once at a small club in LA called Vertigo’s and once at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, California. Ozomatli is a great band from LA.

Sometime in 2006, I finally saw one of my favorite bands of all time, Pearl Jam! Sonic Youth opened for them at the Forum in LA. They played for almost three hours. It was unreal. I regret not seeing these guys more often in the past, but I was glad to finally see them. In 2006 I also saw Sammy Hagar, although almost totally by accident. During my weeklong vacation at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I ended up going for a drink at the local bar called Cabo Wabo. I knew that the Van Halen guys used to own the place, but had no clue that Sammy Hagar took over the place. At about 9:45 pm that night, I asked the bartender if Sammy Hagar or anyone in his caliber still performed there. He told me to turn around and look at the stage. Within about three minutes of me asking him, Sammy Hagar walks out on stage and starts his seven-song set with “Why Can’t This Be Love?” His band sounded great and he drank his own Cabo Wabo Tequila in between songs. That was definitely the highlight of my vacation!

This might not count as a “rock concert” but I recently saw Mariah Carey at the MGM Hotel in Vegas. She probably has the greatest female voice in our generation. Earlier this summer, I saw the Killers at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas. They are a great band with an U2-like future. In the last year, I’ve also seen Stevie Nicks, with a very cool and funny Chris Isaak opening, and I saw Mana, a “rock-en-espanol” band play an incredible performance at the Staples Center in LA.

I know it’s all very relative. I’ve met many people who’ve seen far more concerts than I have, but I feel very fortunate to have had all these experiences. My oldest sister saw Led Zeppelin at The Forum in LA back in 1974. How many people can say that? I once met a kid in my Confirmation class named Freddie. He said his father, who was a Queen fanatic, named him after Freddie Mercury. I told him that I saw Queen in concert, and he couldn’t believe it. He later told me that his parents saw them with Billy Squire around 1980. About the same time I saw them. I felt good about it, but I also felt old!

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