Belfast was the lower east side, Hells Kitchen

bearister said:

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" In Band drummer Levon Helm's autobiography, he wrote, "Neil Young had delivered a good version of 'Helpless,' but performed with a good-size rock of cocaine stuck in his nostril. Neil's manager saw this and said no way is Neil gonna be in the film like this. They had to go to special effects people, who developed what they called a 'travelling booger matte' that sanitized Neil's nostril and put 'Helpless' into the movie." As a result, that crumb of cocaine is surely one of the most expensive ever snorted." Phicklephilly

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When he comes onto the stage he looks at Robbie and says - "I got it now, Robbie..."
Now I know what he was talking about.

These bands played on the same bill in February 1970. Then together for a Super Jam.

Venue was a ballroom by Playland in San Francisco, called Family Dog on the Great Highway.

I was a senior in high school about a mile away (Washington).

Best shows while at Cal, both at the Greek, Joan Baez in 1971 and the Jazz Festival in 1974, with a smoking Les Mccan.

As a young kid, I saw Sonja Henie and her ice revue perform at Winterland, when it was an indoor skating rink, many years before it became a rock music venue. Sonia Heine was a 10-time World Figure Skating Champion, three-time Olympic Champion, and 6 time European Champion, winning more World titles and Olympic titles than any other figure skater. She went on to become one of Hollywood's highest paid movie stars. "The Ice Queen of Norway" "The White Swan" Here is a clip of her (unfortunately not at Winterland):

Calbach said:

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These bands played on the same bill in February 1970. Then together for a Super Jam.

Venue was a ballroom by Playland in San Francisco, called Family Dog on the Great Highway.

I was a senior in high school about a mile away (Washington).

Best shows while at Cal, both at the Greek, Joan Baez in 1971 and the Jazz Festival in 1974, with a smoking Les Mccan.

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Go Eagles! I remember going to that venue (not for that show, unfortunately). It had been a roller skating ring in Playland's heyday.

Calbach said:

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These bands played on the same bill in February 1970. Then together for a Super Jam.

Venue was a ballroom by Playland in San Francisco, called Family Dog on the Great Highway.

I was a senior in high school about a mile away (Washington).

Best shows while at Cal, both at the Greek, Joan Baez in 1971 and the Jazz Festival in 1974, with a smoking Les Mccan.

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Joan Baez at the Greek in 1971 was my first concert. Her radio hit at the time was her cover of The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. I was a senior in high school. I was a life long fan after that. She is a lovely looking older woman now. I have a lasting memory of that 1971 concert: the sound system couldn't handle her high notes on Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

Baez in 2018 (then 77):



For the last few years of my practice I worked at 1300 Clay Street (at the corner of 14th). This is a picture of Joan during the Oakland Induction Center Riots in 1967. The Induction Center was on Clay Street. I registered for the Draft there. I think this shows Joan standing on the corner of Clay and 14th:

IssyBear,

Based on my memory with plenty of help from the Internet, it looks like Skate Land was in the adjacent building.
I do recall around 1965 racing my slot car at what later became the Family Dog.

Little Richard and Chuck Berry at the old circle star theater in San Carlos 1975. Little Richard came on first, wow , what a performance. Even 1975 Chuck looked a little tired. Didn't hurt I was in the second row, don't know how I got those tickets but quite a show.

bearister said:

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sonofabear51 said:

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We saw them again a couple years ago. And there are better tracks then that one.
Oh, another great band still going is the Doobie Brothers!

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Which version did you prefer, Tom Johnston or Michael McDonald? It reminds me of when Fleetwood Mac sold out its Blues roots to chase the money with the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham takeover. Tom Johnston was harder Rock and Michael McDonald more R &B. and soul (he was a back up singer for Steely Dan). I have to admit, I thought the songs were better written and sung under McDonald's reign.

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Tom Johnston by a factor of 300

Calbach said:

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IssyBear,

Based on my memory with plenty of help from the Internet, it looks like Skate Land was in the adjacent building.
I do recall around 1965 racing my slot car at what later became the Family Dog.

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You are correct. Skateland was the annex to the pavilion building. That building later became the Family Dog. They were attached but separate spaces.

1. Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffet, Warren Zevon Spartan Stadium SanJose 1979

2. Springsteen 1984 Oakland Coliseum

3. Dan Fogelberg Berkeley Community Theater 1980

I saw the lineup shown in this video in a casino in Tahoe in 1983 (they killed it):

Michael McDonald
Willie Weeks
Robben Ford
Edgar Winter

bearister said:

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Biggest regret of my concert going life that I didn't see the Stones at Winterland in '72. Mick Taylor in his prime.



The Rolling Stones Concert Setlist at Winterland Arena, San Francisco on June 6, 1972 | setlist.fm


https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-rolling-stones/1972/winterland-arena-san-francisco-ca-1bd6f178.html

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Do you recall, the 72 tour was supposed to be the Stones last one?? Seriously, that's how it was billed.

72CalBear said:

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bearister said:

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Biggest regret of my concert going life that I didn't see the Stones at Winterland in '72. Mick Taylor in his prime.



The Rolling Stones Concert Setlist at Winterland Arena, San Francisco on June 6, 1972 | setlist.fm


https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-rolling-stones/1972/winterland-arena-san-francisco-ca-1bd6f178.html

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Do you recall, the 72 tour was supposed to be the Stones last one?? Seriously, that's how it was billed.

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Well, it kinda was... in their capacity as The Best Rock n Roll Band in the World. Ron Wood is no Mick Taylor and Keef would be the first to admit it. Taylor's musical skills are sharp to this day...but he a drinker.

The Dusty 45s. I have seen them numerous times, and they are far and away the best live show ever. Bring your dancin' shoes.

-Pixies 1989 at the Warfield. They are still going strong
- any Tom Petty Concert
- The Police and Bowie at the Coliseum when they did the Day on The Green shows

My now wife and I went to the Cal game that day Bowie played Sept 17 in '83 and then to a wedding in Piedmont. Drank a ton that day.

There are two concerts at Davies Symphony Hall that I enjoyed.

In 1986. the SF Symphony played the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony No. 3.

And on the night the 49er''s scored at will on New England on a cold night on their home turf, The Count Basie Band.

Spent many great afternoons at the Pavilion. One of the best outdoors venues in the country.

Enjoyable thread...love reading the anecdotes of shows before my time.

A few memorable ones for me (graduated HS 1988)...

Flaming Lips - UCD Coffee House 1989
Soul Asylum and The Pixies, The Warfield 1990
Nirvana and Sonic Youth - The Warfield 1990. Kurt flew off the stage first song. Landed on my head.
Fugazi - International Pop Underground Festival, Olympia WA - 1991
Green Day - 924 Gilman St, 1992?
Guided by Voices - I-Beam, SF 1994
Ray Davies - The Alcazar, SF 1996. Front row center.
The Clean - Bottom of the Hill, SF, 2001

Two more of note in the early 80s;

• The Dead Kennedys (with their lead guitarist from Cal) at the American Indian Center on Valencia in SF. My first experience (witnessing not participating in) slam dancing.
• Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at some community center type building in Marin (can't remember where exactly). This was when Flo and Eddie had joined the group (after leaving the Turtles). They were hilarious.

KISS Reunion Tour, Arco Arena, 1996

I saw the Dead at the Berkeley Community Theater in 1972. My memory is it lasted 4 hours. That same year I saw Leon Russell and the Reverend Patrick Henderson at the same venue. They played dueling pianos facing each other like fiends.

smokeyrover said:

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Enjoyable thread...love reading the anecdotes of shows before my time.

A few memorable ones for me (graduated HS 1988)...

Flaming Lips - UCD Coffee House 1989
Soul Asylum and The Pixies, The Warfield 1990
Nirvana and Sonic Youth - The Warfield 1990. Kurt flew off the stage first song. Landed on my head.
Fugazi - International Pop Underground Festival, Olympia WA - 1991
Green Day - 924 Gilman St, 1992?
Guided by Voices - I-Beam, SF 1994
Ray Davies - The Alcazar, SF 1996. Front row center.
The Clean - Bottom of the Hill, SF, 2001

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Love the Ray Davies mention in the midst of all the bands from your era (I graduated from hs in 75)... I would have loved to see the Kinks if only to see the brothers battle.... love their music.

Picking your favorite Kinks' song is futile, but this is one of mine:




...and I always loved Ray's nod to Canned Heat:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQHCSrvQ72NN-mmo128svNdiKPX-yDmCEdIz-q2YYfbpdDgPbh8&usqp=CAU

The Kinks music is amazing! Saw them once, I think Oakland Coliseum, 1985.

I haven't been to a ton of concerts..saw phil collins live, saw some oldies bands like tempations etc back in the late 80s. But by far the best concert I saw was 38 Special and the Steve Miller Band. Both were great.

I saw Steve Miller at Winterland during the peak of the Zebra slayings. I was seeing black El Dorado caddies in every shadow.

sonofabear51 said:

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The Kinks music is amazing! Saw them once, I think Oakland Coliseum, 1985.

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Wasn't that Henry J. Kaiser auditorium? That was a great show mid 80's.

bearister said:

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I saw Steve Miller at Winterland during the peak of the Zebra slayings. I was seeing black El Dorado caddies in every shadow.

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Steve Miller bored me to tears in 1988. I could have just listened to his Greatest Hits CD for the same thrill. And I actively like his music very much. But in order for a concert to be good, there has to be something extra above just sounding exactly like the record to make it worth going.

Like Fleetwood Mac, Steve Miller was outstanding before he sold out for commercial success with hit singles....but you can't fault a brother for putting groceries on the table. Very few can afford to be true to their art.

The Steve Miller Band (1967, with a very skinny Boz Scaggs):

Professor Henry Higgins said:

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bearister said:

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I saw Steve Miller at Winterland during the peak of the Zebra slayings. I was seeing black El Dorado caddies in every shadow.

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Steve Miller bored me to tears in 1988. I could have just listened to his Greatest Hits CD for the same thrill. And I actively like his music very much. But in order for a concert to be good, there has to be something extra above just sounding exactly like the record to make it worth going.

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Interesting.

I've never seen Steve Miller, but I had a friend who turned 50 in 2007 and decided to go to at least 50 concerts in the year while he was age 50. When he was done, he ranked all the 50+ concerts he went to. The biggest positive surprise for him was Steve Miller. My friend liked Steve Miller's music, but he liked everybody he went to see, and if he'd ranked them all before he went to the concerts that year, Miller would have been in the middle of the pack, around 25-30. But he said Steve Miller gave a surprisingly great show, so much more than just playing the songs, including great performances of music that wasn't his own. The concert ended up ranked around 5th on his list.

Maybe Steve Miller learned his lesson in the 20 years after your concert.

Sadly, the last concert I ever went to with that friend before he passed away was Neil Young at the Fox in 2010, which ranks among the worst concerts I ever saw. Now THAT bored me to tears. Neil truly mailed it in, had no interaction with the audience (except to scold a 10 year old boy for making too much noise), and was just dull. I've seen Neil other times when he didn't suck, but man, was he boring that night.

Neil was in his prime in his 20's and 30's...but he still had at least some gas left in the tank at age 44 on this night:

I've seen so many great ones, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Doobie Brothers, Queen, and a lot of others. But the one that stands out above all the rest was The Who at Winterland 1976.

I have seen Neil many times, most of them he was on it. I think the most memorable Neil show for me was his solo tour in '84 at the Cow Palace: Computer Age. I didn't think he could pull it off, I don't think the album was very popular. But he did. As I remember the crowd was roaring. I may be one of the few that actually really like that album.