The following little trivia challenge has sort of gone viral at
La Livre du Visage Facebook, or at least in the precincts I haunt there, so I thought I'd put my two centimes in and share it with you guys. Obviously, I'm curious about how you'd respond in the same categories, so please -- comment away!
FIRST CONCERT
The Beach Boys, Asbury Park Convention Hall, July 10 1965. Glen Campbell(!) was standing in for Brian, and they premiered(!!) "California Girls," which wouldn't get released to radio for another couple of days. I should add that this was the only Teen Scream show I ever attended.
MOST RECENT CONCERT
Robert Plant and Allison Krauss at Forest Hills Stadium, summer of 2022. I'm a fan, but the show struck me as a bit of a snooze. Maybe it was the humidity.
WORST CONCERT
Queen, the Beacon Theater (I think), 1973, touring the first album. The band arrived in NYC trailng clouds of hype; I had been moderately intriqued by the kitchen sink over-production of the debut record, and went into the show ready to be convinced. But boy, did they stink. The sound was heavy metal aural sludge (with a yowling lead singer up front who was way too impressed with himself) that resembled the album not at all. Every song sounded like every other song, and the whole act was massively headache-inducing; if there hadn't been a reliable headliner (can't remember who) on the bill, I would have fled the theater in mid-set. Obviously, I mellowed about Queen over the years as the radio hits kept coming, but it wasn't until the
Bohemian Rhapsody film that I finally became a raving fan, mostly because of the memory of that 1973 live show. Boy, did they stink.
LOUDEST CONCERT
Blue Cheer, the Fillmore East, April 1968. Wall to wall Marshall amps (turned to eleven) employed as a weapon of torture by a trio of speed-freak-skinny biker punks who thought they were doing something socially valuable by transforming the surrounding air into cottage cheese. I endured their sonic assault from an 8th row center seat, and it was the only time I ever wished the Fillmore's justifiably celebrated sound system wasn't so good.
BEST CONCERT
The best single concert in a concert-going lifetime? Really?
ACT YOU'VE SEEN THE MOST TIMES
Not really sure, but if I had to guess, it would be either Springsteen, Southside Johnny, or The Smithereens (who used to play all the time at a club across the street from where I lived). It's a Jersey thing -- you would't understand.
SHOW YOU WISH YOU'D SEEN
The MC5, Lincoln Park, Chicago, August 1968 during the Democratic Convention and its attendant police riots. Never got to see the 5 anywhere else either, alas.
BAND YOU WISH YOU'D SEEN
Buffalo Springfield. I had tickets to see them at (I think) a Murray the K extravaganza in '
67 or '68, but I got sick and missed it (one of the great regrets of my adult life). Runner up: The Bangles.
NEXT CONCERT
I have no idea. What am I -- Kreskin?