I was working at my law enforcement job for almost a year when I traveled to New Jersey in July, 1986 with my new buddy from work, Mike, to see Van Halen and Bachman Turner Overdrive at the Meadowlands complex, home of Giants Stadium. I was never a big fan of the trip, or the venue itself, so it was a relatively rare occasion to attend a concert at Brendan Byrne Arena, but this show was worth the hassle. Our seats were about midway up and dead center with BTO opening a great double bill. Van Hagar was in top form and the band seemingly was having a great time rocking the house. Thirty five years later, Detective Mike and I are still good friends (although. I cannot seem to convince him to attend any more shows).

My Generation

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GQ

Lou Reed was a true original; he has always been one of my favorite artists.

I caught Mr. Reed in July of 1986 in New York City at the great rock and roll club The Ritz (now Webster Hall).

Dirty Boulevard

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GQ

The progressive rock “supergroup” GTR showcased Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe with Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett; former Yes and Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes produced the GTR album. Howe still performs with a Yes line up and Hackett continues to tour solo, playing his own compositions and those Genesis songs he contributed to prior to “And Then There Were Three” when the band leaned toward a more radio friendly “pop” sound, showcasing primarily shorter “catchier” tunes. I caught Steve Hackett with his band at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury a few years ago and I was quite impressed with a performance that made me appreciate the guitarist’s incredible talent. The GTR project was short lived but it was an interesting collaboration at the time, and part of their collective and individual musical journeys (and mine).

When the Heart Rules the Mind

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GQ

In our minds, local heavy metal heroes, Twisted Sister, had made the big time by playing Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan on a Friday night in January, 1986. Touring behind the “Come Out and Play” collection with the flip up album cover and song echoing the cult classic movie “The Warriors”, this concert felt like a coronation after years of crushing it in the Long Island club scene and beyond. A chain link fence was, what seemed like at the time, an elaborate and appropriate backdrop to the legendary band playing on such an iconic stage. The tour may have also been the beginning of the end as I read somewhere that the tour itself was not financially successful, but for the diehards in the audience that night, it was a raucous celebration.
For those of us that were on the front lines, the concert at Radio City Music Hall was the culmination of many rocking nights at clubs like Speaks, Hammerheads, Rockaways and our favorite local club, Beggars Opera on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. I had bought the indie label vinyl records and proudly carried my fragile S.M. F. Friend of Twisted Sister plastic card in my wallet until it was missing pieces and ultimately lost when my wallet was dropped on Queens Boulevard and later returned in the mail from downtown Manhattan missing only a little bit of cash and my treasured S.M.F. credit card sized plastic membership memento from the early daze.
I later met an interesting IT dude while I was working in law enforcement who looked vaguely familiar with an interesting unique goatee. My suspicions that this gent was the great bass player Mendoza who was now utilizing his talents to train my people on the down low. I called him into my office and asked him point blank and he laughed. I told him about my S.M.F. Friend of Twisted Sister card story and he said he would have liked to have seen it as there were not a lot of them left. I never gave him up to our personnel, as he said the celebrity thing sometimes got in the way of his side gig as a tech wizard.
Twisted Sister was one of the great bands and success stories in the history of rock and roll.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame worthy?

Hell Yeah!

We’re Not Gonna Take It

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GQ

Neil Young & the International Harvesters performed at Pier 84 in Manhattan in September, 1985 with opener Nicolette Larson, who scored a big hit with Young’s song “Lotta Love”. I was sworn in with the police department on August 30 and was about to embark on my law enforcement career, and a police academy, so I am not even sure how I found myself attending this particular concert (but according to my records I apparently did).

Grey Riders

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GQ

Eleven days before being sworn in and beginning my career in law enforcement, I traveled to Giants Stadium to see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in concert. As I recall, we were last row in the upper deck in the 300’s section to the right of the stage. At that point, just being in the building was enough as Bruce was one of the biggest rock stars on the planet, especially in his home state of New Jersey, and we were just happy to have gotten tickets at all. In my opinion, Mr. Springsteen has lost touch with his fan base with overpriced Broadway shows and politically motivated alliances leaning in the wrong direction and contrary to his working class fans that made him the wealthy superstar he is today. Bruce Springsteen is undeniably one of the great rock and roll acts in popular music history, but would have been better off had he burnt out then fading away like he has.
In 2020, I went to the last concert performance by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul, with opener the great Peter Wolf, at the Beacon Theatre just before the pandemic shut everything down. The show was being recorded for a live album and DVD release and it was rumored that Springsteen could show up and play with the band (but it never did happen despite the fact a Beacon bartender had told me that there were two potential end times, one if Bruce played and one if he did not, so it would appear that it was in the realm of possibility). We were in the third row center of the Beacon and a Bruce cameo would have been epic. Instead Peter Wolf put on one of his incredible performances as usual and a guy who used to be in the Sopranos and dressed as Maude fronted a soul revue. It was an interesting evening out on the town in Manhattan to say the least.

Love Stinks

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GQ

At the time I enjoyed the Broadway show Cats.

In retrospect it is a pretty horrible Broadway musical resulting in a train wreck of a movie.

Stray Cat Strut

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GQ

I have seen the legendary Elton John a number of times; it is always a fine concert with great songs and outstanding performances but the shows are rarely memorable beyond the following day.
In the 1970’s, and beyond, Elton John was releasing great songs and albums so frequently that you almost took him for granted.
His never ending, over priced, final tour has dates into 2022 partly due to a string of postponements for a variety of reasons. Elton John’s current world wide tour is yet another example of a rock and roll cash grab as he limps into retirement, but the man is undeniably one of the all time greats in a time when rock and roll seemingly has only the Foo Fighters rocking us into the sunset during these dark days for live music. Our musical heroes and hippie icons are furiously selling off their catalogs and trying to maintain a lifestyle into their golden years that they have become accustomed to. While I do not begrudge them monetizing their art, and the fans of rock and roll music have happily supported and made possible some of that country comfort, how about not squeezing every last dime from your fans on your way toward the exit door. Dynamic pricing, “platinum” seating, silly packages where you hand out a worthless laminate and a gift bag, are all pretty despicable and serve only to price gauge the uninformed casual fan. (Exorbitant ticket surcharges only add to the pain). Poor ticket sales and half sold venues for some tours, particularly indoors, should not be ignored.
Play nice…..and loud!

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

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GQ

Neil Young went full on country in 1984 with his backing band the International Harvesters and opening act the legendary Waylon Jennings with the Waylors. This Jones Beach concert that I believe was sponsored by Schaefer beer is memorable for a couple of reasons.
After the show ended and the audience had made its way toward the Jones Beach parking lots, I decided that I would explore. While crew were dismantling the stage, I walked down the center aisle of the orchestra, hopped on stage and made like I had something legitimate to do and belonged. I had no idea where I was going but continued backstage into the seemingly cavernous concrete structure and began wandering around. I could see that there were some people hanging out in one room and I quick stepped past. At some point during my journey, I ended up in the lot where the tour buses were parked. I still lived in Queens at the time and my ride home was long gone; it was time to make my way to Queens and I started walking. I really had no bearing as to where I was to where I needed to be but, in retrospect, I must have walked along the Wantagh Parjway for quite awhile. It had gotten late early and I found myself in an all night diner where I used a pay phone to try and call a cab for what would have been an expensive ride to Queens. Whoever answered the phone told me “why don’t you just take the train?” My response was something to the effect like “what are you talking about?”; I still had no idea what was the best way to get home. The voice on the phone said “look out the window” and it turned out the diner was directly across from the Long Island Railroad. I got on the westbound train to New York City and found myself sitting with commuters on their way into work Monday morning as the sun began to rise.

Little could I have known then that in about eight years I would purchase a house in Seaford that is a ten minute drive from the Jones Beach Theatre parking lots after a show to my driveway.

Field of Opportunity

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GQ

New York City has it all and I am not opposed to attending the occasional Broadway show as I do like to be entertained. On a Saturday in August, 1984 we went to see the long running musical “A Chorus Line”.

Dance the Night Away

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GQ