Long before it was purchased by NYU for student housing, New York City’s Palladium located in downtown Manhattan was the rough and rowdy alter ego to what would become the Beacon Theatre as the preeminent 3000 plus seat concert hall venue. I attended two evenings with Maria McKee opening for Neil Young in September of 1989. I last saw Neil,with the Real, in Indianapolis before the pandemic hit which may have been his last headlining live performance for awhile (Young played Farm Aid after the Indy gig) as Neil has said he will not hit the road again until Covid is under control. As the new year approaches, and Covid once again surges, a Neil Young live performance does not seem likely at the moment, or any time soon, so in the meantime enjoy the NYA, “Barn” and the just dropped “Summer Songs” collection.

Hippie Dream

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GQ

Howe do you replace legendary Yes bass player and co-founder Chris Squier for this ABWH not-Yes tour? Tony Levin of King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and many other progressive rock bands and configurations played with Yes members on the self titled Collection of music then took his stick on the road with the band where I caught them at the Jones Beach Theatre in August, 1989. Yes was, and still is, one of my favorite bands of all time so to have them play the beach was an event for fans of progressive rock music. The talented group of musicians as constructed was a relatively short term project that lasted only from 1988 to 1990.

Brother of Mine

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GQ

A Friday night in July at the beach with the Allman Brothers Band; I have no particular recollection of this Allman Brothers Band concert but I am sure that it was a great night.

Eat a Peach

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GQ

I have absolutely no recollection of The Who at Giants Stadium on July 2nd, 1989; but I was there!

The Who Sell Out

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GQ

The Beach Boys opened for Chicago at the Jones Beach Theatre in June of 1989 and in one of the most brilliant moves I have ever witnessed, during (I believe) “Be True to Your School”, the USC cheerleading squad came on stage in uniform and “cheered” during the performance. At the time, I believed it to be a stroke of genius for the band to bring the cheerleaders on tour with them for obvious, and perhaps, not so obvious reasons. When my son was small we went to a March Madness basketball doubleheader at the Nassau Coliseum and USC was one of the four basketball teams playing that day. The USC cheerleaders looked like Las Vegas chorus girls compared to the young gals cheering for the other three teams. I remember telling my son, “That’s where you want to go to school”. The Beach Boys were not just musical geniuses; I assume they also somehow figured out how to keep themselves entertained while touring endlessly and tried to forestall the monotony on the road from getting stale.

I recall that my wife and I sat in the orchestra to the left of the stage and that Carl Wilson performed right in front of us. A version of the Beach Boys staring Mike Love are still on the road and, somewhat amazingly, Brian Wilson will open for Chicago on a 2022 summer tour, Covid permitting of course. Honestly, Brian Wilson looked pretty washed up when I saw him a few years ago at Westbury playing with Jeff Beck so I do not have high expectations for him on this upcoming tour. Chicago has been touring seemingly non-stop for decades and they usually have pretty good opening acts on the summer tours; Earth, Wind & Fire being the best, R.E.O. Speedwagon another, CSN, and this particular tour with The Beach Boys being amongst the most entertaining Chicago concert evenings through the years.

Fun, Fun, Fun

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GQ

Neil Young has come up with many interesting opening acts through the years. Even established acts, who normally consider themselves headliners only, will sometimes support a Neil Young tour. I had never seen an Indigo Girls performance until this tour and I believe they may have had a radio friendly hit or two around that time.
I vaguely remember the folk duo performing sn acoustic set on this Young tour

The Indigo Girls are still a touring act, and I believe they may have played a gig at The Paramount in Huntington in October after multiple Covid postponements, which is a testament to their resilience and longevity.

Light a Candle

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GQ

Lou Reed is one of my all time favorite artists; one of the benefits of living in New York was having the opportunity to attend a Lou Reed concert at a Broadway Theatre. My buddy Eric and I made our way from our nosebleed seats, down the right side orchestra aisle to about ten rows from the stage, for “Satellite of Love”.

Dirty Boulevard

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GQ

I had never seen Van Morrison perform in concert so when I discovered that he was playing a benefit concert at the Beacon Theatre it was a no brainer. I did not know what to expect and, as I recall, Mr. Morrison performed with an orchestra that evening and I remember thinking the set was on the short side. Years later, I would have orchestra seats for Van Morrison at Jones Beach Theatre that were given to me somehow. From where my wife and I were sitting toward the left of the stage we could see a large clock with red numbers counting down from one hour and thirty minutes. As the clock struck zero, Van was off the stage, and a short time later we could see the top of Morrison’s hat bouncing through the crowd as security escorted him out through the far left orchestra aisle as his band played on without him. The running clock and Van’s rushed exit was unfortunately more memorable then the actual performance which escapes any particular recollection at this point, but I do love his music.

Real Real Gone

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GQ

Following the Bluenotes club tour which had a stop at New York City’s. The World, Neil Young took the blues lineup on the road to play the usual summer outdoor venues to include the Jones Beach Theatre and Pier in Manhattan. At Jones Beach, as I recall, the bulk of the Long Island crowd was bewildered by the show and the beach breezes took the wind machine effects sideways. The Pier gig, for me, turned into a wild night with a misplaced concert ticket, cab rides in search of local club dates, and my buddy Eric telling me that during my disappearing act I missed a killer version of “Tonight’s the Night” performed as if Neil wanted to get the bad taste of the under-appreciated Jones Beach gig out of his mouth and purge it from his memory for good with an inspired quick turnaround rock and roll performance.

This Note’s For You

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GQ

As I recall, the Steve Winwood concert at the Jones Beach Theatre in August of 1988 was the 1980’s MTV version of Winwood before he reverted back to his jam band Traffic roots ways a few years later. I have always been a big fan of all versions of Steve but the best that I ever saw him perform was at the Westbury Music Fair, in the round, where I had a third of fifth row seat, up close and personal. It was just a phenomenal concert. At the Jones Beach show I vaguely remember Winwood showing off some choreographed moves onstage; the 80’s was an odd transitional period for 1960’s and 70’s acts like Winwood, the Moody Blues, CSN, Yes and Neil Young. The combination of new emerging technologies and music video explosion made for an interesting musical journey for artists and fans alike.

Valerie

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GQ