The TAC Top 25 Concert Countdown #1 Puttin' On The Ritz

[wolfking]

Great pictures, as always.  That Slayer set is awesome.

[Lethean]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace. 

[TAC]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I linked a couple of performances from the tour. If you haven't watched them, they're pretty good, especially the Weedsport on as it's outdoors.

[Lethean]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I linked a couple of performances from the tour. If you haven't watched them, they're pretty good, especially the Weedsport on as it's outdoors.

I haven't yet, but I definitely will.

[Lethean]

I don't think newer is automatically better.  Or older either.  I'm jealous of the DT shows because they're one of my favorite bands and I'd like to have seen every tour.  I'd like to have seen them at the beginning, as I've seen them at the middle and what is now presumably towards the end.  The same with Rush.  I feel like if I had to choose, I got the better deal because I got to see them do the 3 hour shows, as well as hearing from multiple people that they were just a little bit better/more relaxed/happy to be on stage when they came back.  But certainly it would have been cool to see them when Geddy was real young and to hear him singing some of that old stuff live like he did on the record.  Etc. 

The thing about this era of DT is that I feel like I was just lucky. There was no internet and PMU hadn't really broke. I just happened to see them and watched the music papers in Boston and you literally wouldn't know about a show until you saw it in an ad.

I was out of college for a couple years at this point and I thought I'd never find a "new" band, like I would discover bands when I was younger.
I was old enough to go to club shows and it was just really exciting. Images & Words was a musical life changing album. From the moment I bought it, I didn't listen to much else for a year and a half.

EDIT: Gee, I'm glad I included JP's pick in the post. Wasn't expecting so much pick talk.

The guitar picks are cool.   When you saw DT for the first time, was it before you bought Images and Words?  Or did you buy it first and then check them out live? 

[TAC]

10. Michael Schenker



March 9, 2018
Berklee Performance Center
Boston


Setlist:
Into the Arena (inst)

w/ Gary Barden
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Cry for the Nations
Attack of the Mad Axeman
Messin' Around
Armed and Ready

Coast to Coast (inst)

w/ Graham Bonnet
Desert Song
Dancer
Night Moods
Searching for a Reason
Assault Attack

Captain Nemo (inst)

w/ Robin McAuley
Bad Boys
Save Yourself
Anytime
Heart and Soul
Love Is Not a Game

Searching for Freedom (inst)

w/ Doogie White
Live and Let Live
Vigilante Man
Lord of the Lost and Lonely
Take Me to the Church
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

w/ All on vocals
Warrior
Rock Bottom
Doctor Doctor
Shoot Shoot
Natural Thing
Lights Out




So..there have only been a handful of albums that have changed my musical life. The Michael Schenker Group's second album, MSG, is one of them. Michael's guitar work is legendary, particularly as the guitarist for UFO in the 1970's. He's had a long and sometimes bumpy career as a solo artist, but for the last 15 years or so, he's been quite active.

This tour was billed as The Michael Schenker Fest, containing his most popular former singers Gary barden, Graham Bonnet, and Robin McAuley, as well as his then current singer Doogie White.
He also has his classic rhythm section on bassist Chris Glen and drummer Ted McKenna.
This lineup in itself checked off so many boxes for me. Seeing Barden and Glen, 2/5ths of the great MSG album (the others being Paul Raymond and Cozy Powell), was such a fulfilling experience.
Sadly, drummer Ted McKenna passed away just 10 months later from of all things, suffering a hemorrhage during hernia surgery. WTF??

Anyway...the show. Gary Barden should really be finished..
And Graham Bonnet!! He's a legend in his own right. I've been listening to him since the early 80's. I think his one album with Rainbow was actually their best one. To get that close to him, he was great. Robin McAuley still sounds great. What a voice. And Doogie..Michael had done his best work in decades with Doogie, so it was great to see him too.

It was cool how Michael separated each singer's portion of the show with a classic instrumental.

Michael is a fantastic player. He doesn't hit you over the head like other "guitar heroes" do. He tends to be more of a songwriter. But his playing is so smooth and melodic. His tone still kills me. Fantastic night!


Gary Barden:




Graham Bonnet:



Robin McAuley:




Doogie White:




Chris Glen & Ted McKenna:


And Ted:



And of course...Michael!














Oh...and me and Michael...sort of..

[wolfking]

 

Last pic is perfect! 

[ProfessorPeart]

The Ed Hunter tour was amazing!   I saw them in July 1999 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.  There was also no AC - I've read that many singers request the AC to be turned off at venues, as the dry air messes up their vocal cords.  Humid air is better for singing.  At the Chicago show, someone in the crowd said that it was 112 degrees on the stage that night, and I remember being soaked in sweat after the show. 

It was my first Maiden show and the excitement of Bruce and Adrian being back was HUGE.  As was seeing them in a small venue. 

Bruce introduced the Clansman by saying that "this is not a song about men in pointy white hats."       I had the Hamburg video on VHS and transferred it to DVD.  Such a fun reminder of what the show I saw was like.

I was at this same show. Hot does not begin to describe it. The back of the venue was lined with people that passed out due to heat exhaustion. My wife was with me and she collapsed towards the end of the show. Nice guy on the other side of her helped me stand her back up.

I remember getting out to the car after the show and taking my shirt off and wringing it out. It was soaked with buckets of sweat. Pretty strong memory for my first ever Maiden show. I have also boycotted the Aragon and have never been back. Not a fan of that venue at all.

[Zoom E]

Nice choice  I saw the Schenker Fest tour in April 2019. It was awesome to see all the old MSG vocalists, and Graham Bonnett was amazing. It was a spectacular show, and great value for money with a two and a half hour set.

[Stadler]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I'm with you; I saw the new version headline a festival with Jane's Addiction, and they were AWESOME.  Jerry blew me away.  But while some of their earlier material was a little too dark for me (Dirt is probably the most intense, heavy album I own, and it's hard to listen to, knowing what I know now) I'd have loved to have seen that version live.

[Stadler]

10. Michael Schenker



March 9, 2018
Berklee Performance Center
Boston

I saw the show the next night in NYC, at Irving Plaza.  AMAZING. 

I've written about it before, but the show was great, and then we were just standing about on the sidewalk. There were two tour busses parked on the street, and all but Graham and Michael (who hopped into a taxi and left right after the show) came out and mingled with the fans on the sidewalk.  I had like a 15 minute conversation with Gary, who was nice as beans (we were talking about the shit weather in the Northeast in March; they were headed to I think Philly the next night).  He signed a copy of that second MSG record, and was clearly very proud of it.   Chris Glen was like a walking stand-up comedian, working the sidewalk, talking to Ted (RIP) and getting him to take pictures with the fans.   Dougie came out, but was clearly sick and didn't really hang much, though he did sign some stuff.  It was really a fun time and since those early Barden albums mean as much to me as they do TAC, it was great to meet what I consider to be my heroes.




In the second one, Chris was yelling at Ted to get in the picture; I don't know the guy on the left, but he was cool and sent me that pic as I was moving to join in as well. 

[TAC]

Nice choice  I saw the Schenker Fest tour in April 2019. It was awesome to see all the old MSG vocalists, and Graham Bonnett was amazing. It was a spectacular show, and great value for money with a two and a half hour set.

It was a great setlist too. I can only take so much "playing the old stuff setlists' but this was worth it, largely because the songs were sung by the classic singers. They had newer material as well, especially the Doogie stuff. And yes, seeing Graham Bonnet was so damn cool!

It was really a fun time and since those early Barden albums mean as much to me as they do TAC, it was great to meet what I consider to be my heroes.



 

You are totally photobombing that Chris Glen pic.

I'd love to have a pic with Gary Barden though, even though he's basically toast.


Hey, I'll have my own pic with Stadler later this week!



Working on tonight's update. I've posted a couple of shots from this concert, but I'll be posting a bunch of never before seen pics.

[TAC]

9. Metallica
 Queensryche



March 16, 1989
Worcester Centrum


Metallica:
Blackened
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Harvester of Sorrow
Eye of the Beholder
Bass Solo
Master of Puppets
One
Seek & Destroy
...And Justice for All
Creeping Death
Fade to Black
Guitar Solo
Battery
Last Caress
Am I Evil?
Whiplash
Breadfan


Queensryche:
Queen of the Reich
Anarchy-X
Revolution Calling
Operation: Mindcrime
Speak
Spreading the Disease
Take Hold of the Flame
The Needle Lies
Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)
Eyes of a Stranger




My peak Metallica fandom was the Justice album and tour cycle. This was one of five shows I saw on this tour, including the following night in Hartford.
Here's a great boot from the Hartford show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SQ671TVtD4

I got a legit second row seat for this show. I also had a backstage pass through my college radio station. That's the good news. The bad news is that after the show, everyone with a pass was seated in a section in the lower arena. The guy took one look at our passes and told us that they were pre-show only. Must be what that diagonal line meant, I assumed. I was so pissed. My program director neglected to tell me that. Still, we had a great time, even got Jason's pick.

Queensryche was cool enough. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics even though we were quite close. I just didn't want to take a chance and get busted before Metallica. Tate came out with sunglasses on, which always rubs me the wrong way. I had seen Queensryche 6 months earlier open for Def Leppard and to me, I really liked them, but I was definitely looking past them to see Metallica.





Metallica
Boot from Tulsa 6 weeks earlier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMKt0fOCDTg
There's some pro shot footage out there, but although the sound isn't great on this, it will give you a truer idea of what the show actually looked like.


Queensryche
Boot from Buffalo three nights earlier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVvof7NugsM&list=PLxDcWR6wjL0chWsBawWJtqWNeMLFmmnOj



Row B...Second row!!




I got Jason's pick! I actually gave it to my nephew a couple of years ago, but here's a pic of it with the Paul Stanley and JP pic to show its size.



Had a backstage pass! Dammit!









Some pics from the show!

[Zoom E]

I saw the Justice tour on May 31, 1989 and was so bummed that the Cult were the support act instead of Queensryche. It was still a great show though. I still have the tour shirt too, but there's no way I could squeeze into it now. 

That sucks that you had a backstage pass that you couldn’t use.  :'(

[TAC]

I saw the Justice tour on May 31, 1989 and was so bummed that the Cult were the support act instead of Queensryche. It was still a great show though. I still have the tour shirt too, but there's no way I could squeeze into it now. 

Sure you could!

I saw two shows that summer and The Cult opened. One of them, also in Worcester I went solo, and for The Cult, who I wasn't a fan, I sat up on the side and watched Matt Sorum, who was a beast.

[Zoom E]

Oh nice. So they played the same venue twice within the space of a few months? Metallica are touring beasts.

[Lethean]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I linked a couple of performances from the tour. If you haven't watched them, they're pretty good, especially the Weedsport on as it's outdoors.

I didn't care for them quite as much as I thought I would - and I knew the video quality wasn't going to be great but they were OK. But a show from Germany came on afterwards, and that was awesome.  He sounded incredible the backing vocals were great.

[Lethean]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I'm with you; I saw the new version headline a festival with Jane's Addiction, and they were AWESOME.  Jerry blew me away.  But while some of their earlier material was a little too dark for me (Dirt is probably the most intense, heavy album I own, and it's hard to listen to, knowing what I know now) I'd have loved to have seen that version live.

Dirt is my favorite Alice in Chains album and I love it.  Maybe if I didn't already have my own connection to it, it would now be hard to listen to for me.  But I think it's an incredible listening experience.

[El Barto]

11. Clash Of The Titans
           Anthrax
            Slayer
          Megadeth
       Alice In Chains


July 6, 1991
Great Woods, Mansfield MA

My recollection of this was going to see it with one of my oldest and dearest friends, and the abject lawlessness of the whole thing, due in no small part to her. She started the biggest fire I've seen at a concert (and I've seen some humdingers). It burned through Slayer's entire set with people moshing around it the whole time. In between bands a bunch of guys in yellow shirts ran out with a fire hose to extinguish it and were quickly repulsed. The entire lawn turned on them and took the hose away, at which point they scurried off. They didn't come back until after the show, and with a pretty hefty police escort.

She's not doing so well right now, late onset MS, but it always pleases me thinking about her contribution to that great show.

[El Barto]

9. Metallica
 Queensryche



March 16, 1989
Worcester Centrum

One of my top five concerts. I still remember it fondly. (And you may well have an FM broadcast recording of the Dallas gig.) Queensr˙che was fantastic, and their set prompted me to buy O:M a few days later.  We had seats around rows 8-10, but withing 5 minutes of Ecstasy of Gold I was firmly entrenched at the barricade and never gave it up. I've mentioned it before, but during the first beer break Newstead handed me a roadie cup of beer. During the second beer break he leaned down with a second, and when I went to grab it he kicked my hand away and said "don't be greedy!" I came away with a Newstead pic and a drumstick.

Totally coincidentally we met Kenny Rogers (the Gambler, not the pitcher) after the show. Nice guy.

[Lethean]

Cool pics TAC.  I would be more interested to go back in time to see Queensryche with Chris DeGarmo, and that looks like a great setlist

I did see Metallica once from the lawn; I'm sure it would have been way better from the second row.

[El Barto]

Oh nice. So they played the same venue twice within the space of a few months? Metallica are touring beasts.

They came back to Dallas a few months later, too. It was iced up when we saw them indoors, and the next time around it was Summer and they played the shed.

Tours were different animals back then. Texas tours were often 8 or 9 dates back in the day. Now it's almost always three, with San Antonio and Austin duking it out for the third gig. On the Damaged Justice Tour they played 12 cities in Texas, and then came back for three more in the Summer.

January 17, 1989    Waco, Texas    Heart O' Texas Coliseum
January 18, 1989    Odessa, Texas    Ector County Coliseum
January 20, 1989    Lubbock, Texas    City Bank Coliseum
January 21, 1989    El Paso, Texas    El Paso County Coliseum
January 22, 1989    Amarillo, Texas    Amarillo Civic Center
January 24, 1989    Beaumont, Texas    Beaumont Civic Center
January 25, 1989    Corpus Christi, Texas    Memorial Coliseum
January 31, 1989    Abilene, Texas    Taylor County Expo Center
February 1, 1989    San Antonio, Texas    Convention Center Arena
February 3, 1989    Austin, Texas    Frank Erwin Center
February 4, 1989    Houston, Texas    The Summit
February 5, 1989    Dallas, Texas    Reunion Arena

Maiden always did the same thing, and not being able to see one of those Podunk Amarillo or Waco shows is one of my concert regrets. That's back when the Jesus Freaks were out in full force, and in Lubbock they're apt to take that nonsense a whole lot more seriously.  Not to mention they're probably playing a highschool gymnasium.

[Samsara]

Of all Tim's concert experiences, the Metallica Damaged Justice tour with Queensryche is the one I'm most jealous of. All of you know I became a fan of Queensryche prior to MC coming out...and I couldn't go see them until 1995. Well, you're also looking at a hardcore fan of the ...And Justice for All record. I wanted this. SO. BAD. But I didn't even bother to ask. To me, ...And Justice for All and Operation: Mindcrime are Metallica and Queensryche's best albums, respectively. I would have killed to see this. Queensryche at their most metal, Metallica at their most complicated.

Prog-thrash is how I refer to ...And Justice for All. And what seems like a weird pairing of bands, was actually a brilliant one. In many ways, QR's technical skills pushed Metallica to deliver on stage, and Metallica's rise to glory was something QR got a lot of lessons on as they transitioned to a headline act in spring 1989.

Amazing tour.

[TAC]

OK I'm jealous of the Alice in Chains set.  I finally saw them when they reformed, and they were very good and it was better than I'd hoped it would be.  But I wish I'd been able to see them with Layne Staley.  What a great voice he had.  I remember when he died, hearing how horrific he life was at the end (and the end apparently took a long time), and he said something to the effect that he hated it (heroin) but couldn't live without it.   Rest in peace.

I linked a couple of performances from the tour. If you haven't watched them, they're pretty good, especially the Weedsport on as it's outdoors.

I didn't care for them quite as much as I thought I would - and I knew the video quality wasn't going to be great but they were OK.

I enjoy boots a lot. I know they're not for everyone. the Weedsport was pretty much my POV of the show.

I would be more interested to go back in time to see Queensryche with Chris DeGarmo, and that looks like a great setlist

I wasn't all that impressed honestly. I had seen them "in the round" opening for Def Leppard 6 months earlier and I enjoyed them a lot more.

Oh nice. So they played the same venue twice within the space of a few months? Metallica are touring beasts.

They came back to Dallas a few months later, too. It was iced up when we saw them indoors, and the next time around it was Summer and they played the shed.

Tours were different animals back then. Texas tours were often 8 or 9 dates back in the day. Now it's almost always three, with San Antonio and Austin duking it out for the third gig. On the Damaged Justice Tour they played 12 cities in Texas, and then came back for three more in the Summer.

January 17, 1989    Waco, Texas    Heart O' Texas Coliseum
January 18, 1989    Odessa, Texas    Ector County Coliseum
January 20, 1989    Lubbock, Texas    City Bank Coliseum
January 21, 1989    El Paso, Texas    El Paso County Coliseum
January 22, 1989    Amarillo, Texas    Amarillo Civic Center
January 24, 1989    Beaumont, Texas    Beaumont Civic Center
January 25, 1989    Corpus Christi, Texas    Memorial Coliseum
January 31, 1989    Abilene, Texas    Taylor County Expo Center
February 1, 1989    San Antonio, Texas    Convention Center Arena
February 3, 1989    Austin, Texas    Frank Erwin Center
February 4, 1989    Houston, Texas    The Summit
February 5, 1989    Dallas, Texas    Reunion Arena

Maiden always did the same thing, and not being able to see one of those Podunk Amarillo or Waco shows is one of my concert regrets. That's back when the Jesus Freaks were out in full force, and in Lubbock they're apt to take that nonsense a whole lot more seriously.  Not to mention they're probably playing a highschool gymnasium.

That's a sick list of tour dates. The Maiden tour itineraries were ridiculous.

Amazing tour.

I thought Queensryche, after the Def Leppard leg in the fall of '88, would've been able to do headline theaters the following Spring. But there was no way they could turn down the Metallica tour.

@Brian.....do you have any info on how they got on the tour, and if they may have contemplated a small venue headline tour during this time period?

[Samsara]

I thought Queensryche, after the Def Leppard leg in the fall of '88, would've been able to do headline theaters the following Spring. But there was no way they could turn down the Metallica tour.

@Brian.....do you have any info on how they got on the tour, and if they may have contemplated a small venue headline tour during this time period?

They had the same management at the time, so getting on the tour was no problem. They were scheduled to go out with Metallica  prior to the point where they exploded on MTV. So while they certainly could have done a successful tour headlining that winter/spring, they were fully booked to continue with Metallica. IIRC, the label actually wanted them to end that stay with Metallica early and go do another record, but the band and management convinced them to let them stay out and continue providing tour support. Good thing. Because "Eyes of a Stranger" hit then, and Queensryche shot up the charts, setting themselves up for that great headline run they did in April/May 1989 of Japan and the West Coast.

[TAC]

Thank you for that. It all makes sense.

I wonder if they wanted to strengthen the opening slot given that this was Metallica's first major headline tour.


Back then though, I always found it curious why QR never did a headlining run. I thought O:M was really excellent, and they had been building just as long as Metallica had.

[Grappler]

I'd have loved to seen the Justice tour, but I was 9 years old at the time and it was two years prior to me discovering the band through Enter Sandman.

I did see Metallica from the front row once, which was insane - they did a small arena tour in late 99/early 2000.  My brother and I got right up on the rail, and once Metallica came on the crush was unbearable.  At one point, I was lifted off of my feet and was positioned diagonally, being held against the rail by the people pushing and surging behind me.  James sang For Whom the Bell Tolls directly in front of me, which was a dream come true, to be that close to him.  Halfway through the show, I moved back about 5 rows to a space where I could breathe.  I found my brother and we enjoyed the rest of the show.

At the end, Lars came to the front of the stage and handed a drumstick to the Asian girl that I was next to while I was up front.  I recall him tossing a plastic beer/lemonade cup out into the crowd and it landed near us.  The amount of people that dove to get his cup was amusing. 

[Samsara]

Tim,

Yeah, QR just wasn't at the level they felt they needed to be yet to make that all work. Once "Eyes of a Stranger" boomed, then it was finally realistic.

Starlight Bowl in San Diego had a capacity of 4,000, the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre...it says it NOW has a capacity of 16,000, but I am guessing it was less than half that during QR's show there in May 1989 (no way QR could have filled 16k in 1989, pre-Empire), the San Jose Civic Auditorium could seat 3,000 back then, etc. It was just a really slow build for Queensryche, which in retrospect, was really a good thing. It really taught them what to do and not do watching other headliners. And when Empire hit huge, and they were playing arenas, that tour was dialed in from the get-go, ya know? Because they had all the experience of being road dogs and seeing what the prime way to handle things and do things was.

The funny thing was, even as an opener, in the EP and The Warning days, they were getting WAYYYYY more money than an average opener. Through the connections of Kim Harris, their first manager, he was able to secure guarantees that at times tripled most other opening bands. So my guess is, Metallica paid them VERY, VERY well.

[TAC]

Thank you Brian. I appreciate it. Yeah, makes the Justice slot a no brainer for sure.

[TAC]

8. Bruce Dickinson




September 28, 1997
The Strand, Providence



Setlist:
Accident of Birth
Toltec 7 Arrival
Starchildren
2 Minutes to Midnight
Darkside of Aquarius
The Magician
Road to Hell
Tattooed Millionaire
Tears of the Dragon
Powerslave
Taking the Queen
Flight of Icarus
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
The Prisoner





Chicago a week before I saw him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0M5T3fugIw

Pro Shot from Sao paulo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBS-Mqh4fq8


After loving the freshness of Balls To Picasso, and the I'mnotsurehwatyoucallit-ness of Skunkworks, hearing Accitent Of Birth was a familar experience. Oh, and adding Adrian Smith was really interesting. Bruce also had the Tribe Of Gypsies band back with him, Guitarist Roy Z, Bassist Eddie Casillas, and Drummer David Ingraham. When I found out Bruce was touring this album, this was a must go.

It was amazing to see Bruce on a theater sized stage. The Strand is quite similar in size as The Ritz in New York City. Seeing Adrian was such a treat. He was my favorite member of Iron Maiden when he left, and it had been 9 years since I'd seen him on stage. And the Tribe guys...holy shit, they are amazing, incredible musicians.
The setlist was really cool 4 excellent Iron Maiden tracks. I wasn't expecting them, but as soon as I heard them I was ecstatic.
It was great that he included Tears Of The Dragon in the set as well. It was just all around an amazing experience.

Apparently GZR opened, but I don't remember them. I wonder if I even went in for them, as I would not have known that it was Geezer Butler's band. Had I did, I would've definitely been in there for them. Hell, I even may have, but I simply do not remember.


Honorable Mention:

Bruce Dickinson

July 22, 1990
The Living Room
Providence


Setlist:
Riding With the Angels
Born in '58
Lickin' the Gun
Gypsy Road
Dive! Dive! Dive!
Drum Solo
Zulu Lulu
Ballad of Mutt
Son of a Gun
Hell on Wheels
All the Young Dudes
Tattooed Millionaire
No Lies
Fog on the Tyne
Sin City
Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter


I offer this as an Honorable Mention here. Truth be told, had the '97 show not happened, this would be in this spot. Plus, I have pictures to this show!!

Bruce was obviously still a member of Iron Maiden. This show was fantastic. The Living Room was a very small club with an even smaller stage. Seeing Bruce up close like this was amazing. And he would have future Iron Maiden guitarist Jannick Gers with him.


Kings Of The Sun opened and I have zero recollection of them.

Here is Dive Dive Live, filmed in LA on this tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTGGIL6H2Qg

[Grappler]

$10 to see Bruce?  That's amazing - especially on the Accident of Birth tour.  I'd have loved to see that show. 

[TAC]

$10 to see Bruce? 

... yeah but a $3 service charge! 

The other notable thing about that ticket stub is that I bought it only 9 days before the show..

[TAC]

According to Setlist FM, Sammy Hager played The Strand the night before Bruce, and the Foo Fighters played there a week and a half later..

[ProfessorPeart]

I was at the Chicago show and those dates don't line up. I think that is from the Sauget, IL show which is near St. Louis.

Either way, seeing Bruce and Adrian at the House Of Blues was amazing! My first time seeing both and it was such an awesome show. The Tribe of Gypsy's were amazing as well. He had a really tight band there. I'm sad he did not use them on his last solo album. It seemed to be missing something and that was the Tribe and Adrian even though Roy was still there.

[TAC]

I was at the Chicago show and those dates don't line up. I think that is from the Sauget, IL show which is near St. Louis.

Either way, seeing Bruce and Adrian at the House Of Blues was amazing! My first time seeing both and it was such an awesome show. The Tribe of Gypsy's were amazing as well. He had a really tight band there. I'm sad he did not use them on his last solo album. It seemed to be missing something and that was the Tribe and Adrian even though Roy was still there.

OK. the youtube clip said Chicago, and I see on Setlist FM that he played Chicago and Saugut on consecutive nights.


I loved David Ingraham's drumming.