After the news of Scott Weiland passing on and seeing everyone say how amazing he was during his prime it made me really wish I'd managed to catch STP live before they faded away. Focus: Which musicians, singers do you wish you had been able to witness in their prime but no longer have the chance see?
Waylon Jennings. I hated country music but after my father passed away I made a Hank Jr. Pandora station to drink to while thinking of my dad and ended up liking some songs. So I listed to more and fell in love with Waylon's music. It's been 8 years and I still listen to him more than any other artist.
Frank Zappa (I have seen Dweezil's cover band) Jerry Garcia Elliott Smith Brad Nowell Layne Staley (but I still want to see AIC in their current incarnation) Karen Carpenter Jim Morrison Stevie Ray Vaughan
The problem with heroin isn't just that it kills rock stars, without it some of the greatest rock music never would have been made. I hate it, but it makes my music collection spectacular. Velvet Underground & Nico is the coolest fucking album ever made. Heroin. One of rock music'so most genuine quotes is "If you want to be great, you have to do heroin". The sad thing is there's truth to that. SRV abused substances but a helicopter got him. He was just awesome. And he didn't get robbed of hitting his peak because he never STOPPED hitting his peak. He was just awesome, all the time, every fucking day. You the man, Stevie.
The Beatles Kat Stevens Johnny Cash Waylon Jennings Conway Twitty Jimmy Hendrix Creedence Clearwater Revival Bob Dylan (in his prime) Willy Nelson (in his prime) Glen Campbell
I've seen Paul McCartney twice and he puts on a amazing show. Probably better than the Beatles when they were together. Focus: I would kill too see Pink Floyd play through there three good albums.
Alice in Chains and INXS. Somewhat related...did anyone see the documentary on HBO about heroin use in Cape Cod? It followed eight adults for a few weeks. Over the course of filming, one disappeared and two died. Jesus, what a drug. God help anyone hooked on it.
I actually saw STP in their prime, touring behind Tiny Vatican. They were fantastic (Cheap Trick opened and was fantastic as well). Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti tour Pink Floyd: Animals tour Johnny Cash: Folsom Prison era Bryan Adams: Reckless tour Van Halen: Fair Warning tour AC/DC: Highway to Hell tour (Bonn Scott) U2: Unforgettable Fire tour AIC: Dirt tour Bad Company: Burning Sky tour Eagles: Hotel California tour Wings: Band on the Run tour (for those that said 'Beatles' - they were not very good live and stopped performing in 1965 - they were never good live because the equipment couldn't get loud enough for the venues they played (they were very good musicians live). Hendrix: Are You Experienced tour SRV: Texas Flood tour Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run tour Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited tour Cream: Disreali Gears tour Foreigner: 4 tour Yes: Drama or 90125 tour Genesis: Lamb Lies Down on Broadway or Wind or Wuthering/Trick of the Tail tour REO Speedwagon: Hi Infidelity tour Journey: Escape tour Sinatra: Comeback tour These are just off the top of my head. There's more, I'm sure.
Heroin is super cheap right now. You have to be suicidal to even consider it. Not one person, except maybe Burroughs, has ever, EVER EVER EVER said one good thing about smack. "It was such a good idea," said nobody. Days of The New. I know Travis Meeks is still alive and touring, but, yeah, watch Intervention. I'm not obsessively into the live experience. Maybe it is the crowds or volume, or I'm too old. I can enjoy The Beatles or Cream in the comfort of my home. Jimi is probably the one that would be the most face melting. His playing is still fresh and unique. To see that kind of a player live, see him evolve, put on the shows that he did. Yeah, that'd be special. We really missed a talent in that guy. He would be putting out insane stuff. It'd be fun to see Cliff Burton play with Metallica on the '86 tour before his death. I am a mega Metallica dork. By all accounts the band was blowing everyone else off the stage, including Ozzy, during this run. This should go without saying, but Beethoven and Mozart. Imagine watching Mozart conduct one of his operas or his Requiem (Lacrimosa is my favorite classical piece). Imagine watching Beethoven play the Moonlight Sonata or see if he went apeshit conducting the 5th. My mind can't even process that. I did, however, have the honor of seeing Dimebag Darrell destroy the stage twice. That guy could play a little guitar if you haven't heard.
I think it would've been awesome to see Robert Johnson. Those ancient recordings certainly don't do him justice.
Alice in Chains, STPs, Motorhead. I'd just spent all my money on tickets to another festival last time Motorhead were in Aussie and now I'm filthy.
Jeff Buckley. Talk about promising career cut short. His only album "Grace" was fabulous, his drowning death so strange and tragic. His dad was a great songwriter/musician as well, he wrote "Song to the Siren".
Plenty of people have said its the best euphoric buzz or some shit. Still terrifies me. I know 3 different kids I went to HS with that OD'd in the last 10 years. And I went to an affluent suburban HS. One was in finance, one was on a golf scholarship, and the other was a pretty normal dude in his early 20s. All got into coke and migrated in that direction cause its cheap as fuck. Just stunningly sad. Fucking D-Money and Smoothie. I was wondering if anyone was going to mention this. Some of the stuff you read about the great composers and pianists are insane. Bach used to write such insane melodies that he would play notes with his nose. Seeing those famous composers perform individually would be one thing, to see them conduct legendary pieces of music with an orchestra at classical's music prime would be another entirely. Coldplay played a college bar where I went to school 2 years before I got there shortly after Parachutes. I'm not the biggest Coldplay fan, but the stage is literally 9 inches off the ground and I used to play open mics and small shows there. Kind of cool to think about. Kings of Leon played there my freshman year.
Instead of rattling off the names of a bunch of bands that don't play anymore, I'm going a different route: The ones that got away; bands that were within my grasp to see, but circumstances got in the way. Monster Magnet Spoiler The first real concert (ie: not shitty local bands) I ever saw was Megadeth in 1998. Monster Magnet was opening for them, as well as this really shitty band called Soak. I was 16, and I went to the show with two 18 year old girls. Being the ages we were, we couldn't buy alcohol. Well, after Soak's abysmal set, one of the girls found some guys who had beers out in their car that they would share with us (I don't think they initially knew that there was going to be a guy sharing their beer, because they seemed annoyed that I came along.). So we went out to the parking lot, and they guys proceeded to run game on the girls, and everyone ignored my concern about missing the next act. WE MISSED ALL OF MONSTER MAGNET'S SET. Here's the thing though: At the time, I didn't really care; I was glad that I got a couple of free beers, and after all, I was there to see Megadeth. Also, I didn't even get into Monster Magnet until my early 20's, when they infected my brain. These days, they only tour in Europe. Fuck me. Nine Inch Nails Spoiler In '05 or '06, I was working at a local college in an office/student aid position. It was actually a pretty sweet gig for me in my early 20's (Coincidentally, this is right around the time that I got really into Monster Magnet); I was making $10 an hour for basically just sitting back and bullshitting the whole time. Anyway, Nine Inch Nails was going to be playing at the Concrete Street Amphitheater in Corpus Christi soon. I wanted to go, but I was on the fence because I'd never been to an away concert. However, what settled the issue was that our division was going to have a meeting on the day of the concert. My boss was VERY ADAMANT about the importance of attending this meeting; he didn't actually say that you would be fired if you didn't go, but it was implied that you'd be in deep shit if you didn't go. So the big day rolls around, and my boss isn't there. I asked HIS boss about it, and she said that he had some kind of family emergency. What followed was one of the most boring, pointless meetings in the history of colleges, and it wrapped up in about an hour. The following Monday, I asked my boss if everything was okay, (ie: Why the fuck weren't you here), and he straight up told me : "I went to see Nine Inch Nails. I wasn't going to stay for some stupid-ass meeting. Fuck that. " That motherfucker. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Spoiler On October 12th, 2013, Joan Jett was coming to the Concrete Street Amphitheater in Corpus. I've had a huge, throbbing crush on her since I was in my teens (yes, I know she's a dyke. Just let me have this.). I bought two tickets, one for me, and one for the woman I was dating at the time (who also loved Joan). This was perfect, because the concert was on her birthday. Well guess what happened to me in September of 2013... (Hint: It involves the cops.) What I wanted to do was go "on the run" for a month until after the show, then turn myself in. But NOOOOOOO, my lawyer said : "Bandit, if you turn yourself in now, the judge will probably reinstate your probation, and you won't do any prison time!" Bull. Fucking. Shit. The prosecution never even considered that as an option; they were going to lock me up no matter what. That's not all. I left the tickets with my girl, but she said that she didn't want to go without me, so I told her to look up this lesbian couple that I'm friends with and give the tickets to them (who better to see Joan Jett than a couple of lesbians, right?). She never did that; she said that she couldn't find them online (this woman could be kind of scatter-brained...). The tickets were never used. IT WAS A TOTAL FUCKING WASTE. Goddammit, I get pissed off just thinking about this. Why did I have to do what my stupid lawyer said?