One week to the day after catching Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band at the Coca Cola at Jones Beach Theatre, I went to see Ozzy Osborne with Filter & Stuttering John at the same outdoor venue. I vaguely remember seeing Filter perform from my dead center stadium seat and I think their song “ Hey Man Nice Shot” was being played pretty regularly on the radio at the time. Stuttering John is best known for being on the Howard Stern Show and whose best bit was asking Ringo Starr at a press conference “What did you do with the money?” What money? “ The money your mother gave you for singing lessons”. Now you can catch The artist formerly know as Stuttering John on various podcasts sadly bashing all things Stern.
Shot in the Dark

I Don’t Know

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GQ

While I have always appreciated the Bob Seger System, my wife’s second favorite band after Chicago is Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band so we have always gone to see them whenever they were in town. I have no particular recollection of this Saturday, June 8, 1996 concert, but I am intrigued by the name of the opening act (Bone Pony). We last saw Bob Seger perform at the Jones Beach Theatre, then finally at Madison Square Garden on his “ farewell tour” just before the pandemic shut everything down. Seger’s timing was perfect as the live music industry came to a screeching halt just after he concluded his final tour.

Turn the Page

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GQ

Mr. Nut, AKA Mr. Vegas, and I drove to the Nassau Coliseum on a Friday in February, 1996 during a snowstorm, a borderline blizzard as I recall, to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the first time. I had been introduced to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ music years earlier when my childhood friend Mike came back from a trip to California with a cassette tape telling us how great the band was. I thought the band’s name was ridiculous and dismissed them as I was firmly committed to my preferred rock and roll musical artists at the time; unfortunately I did not give this, as far as I was concerned, unknown California band the time of day.
On this particular wintery Friday night, the drive to the Nassau Coliseum during the snowstorm was something else, the roads were a bit treacherous, and we were kind of surprised the show was not postponed or canceled. We were pleased upon arrival to find out that the concert would go on as scheduled, with Silverchair opening. Other than the snowstorm, the most memorable part of the evening was when the Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to the stage for the encores wearing nothing but their birthday suits and well placed socks. This routine was somewhat infamous and predictable but still a shock to watch in person. I got to see the band again a few years ago at Madison Square Garden with my son, and these days the rock and roll hall of famers sell out arenas and stadiums on a regular basis. not bad for an unfamiliar band that was introduced to me by my friend from Queens, New York with a beat up looking cassette tape that he brought back with him from the West Coast many moons ago.

Under the Bridge

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GQ

I think I have seen Robert Plant and Jimmy Page play together post- Led Zeppelin a couple of times but I believe this concert in October, 1995 at Madison Square Garden was the show where Mr. Nut, AKA Mr. Vegas, and I made our way to the right side of the MSG stage to get a better view of the rock gods up close and personal. We were standing on the first level near the end of the night’s performance where there was a rather large gap between the seated area and the stage that was situated a nice drop down below us. At some point, out of nowhere, a young man leaped from the seated area to the right of us toward a rope hanging about halfway out. As if in slow motion, this guy flew through the air in an apparent attempt to make it backstage, grasped for the thick brown rope, missed, and did a free fall down below us. In retrospect, for him, this was likely not a wise course of action because at that height there was no doubt he had to have gotten pretty banged up upon landing on the concrete floor below. The band, completely unaware of the flying burrito brother’s failed attempt to meet his heroes, played on and completed the concert uninterrupted.
Oh yeah, it was a great show……..

Rock and Roll!

Ramble On!

GQ

When the “Free For All” album was released, it instantly became one of my favorites, and in an era when most everyone was making mix tapes of their favorite rock and roll tunes, I remember that I roamed around town blasting the entire album from beginning to end on the boom box (with stereo sound!) my future father in law had picked up for me somewhere in Manhattan.
The first time I saw Ted Nugent live he performed with Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Nassau Coliseum. If memory serves me correctly, I was supposed to see the two bands appear together again, but the Skynyrd plane crash tragedy happened first and Nugent headlined the Madison Square Garden concert himself with , I believe, AC/DC opening.
This August, 1995 show is memorable primarily because Bad Company opened, but without Paul Rodgers on vocals. Rodgers had left the band sometime before this tour happened, but BadCo continued on with a new vocalist and album to promote. They were still good, but Paul Rodgers is a special front man with an iconic voice so it was not nearly the same band. Ted Nugent will play the Paramount in Huntington this coming August, with the great Greg Smith on bass; Ted does not tour during hunting season so the animal kingdom will be safe for a time while Nugent provides yet another rock and roll sonic assault on our ear drums this summer.

Dog Eat Dog

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GQ

Following the Saturday night Chicago concert at Jones Beach, the Allman Brothers Band returned to the Long Island on a Wednesday in August, 1995, this time with Rusted Root opening.
The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia passed away on the same day, Wednesday, August 9, 1995.
The Grateful Dead had scheduled a performance at Giants Stadium and I remember having heard an advertisement for the show on the radio and thinking that maybe I should attend as I had not seen the band in awhile. Alas, it was not meant to be as Mr. Garcia died unexpectedly. Since that time I have seen a variety of Dead incarnations out on tour to include Bob Weir, Phil Lesh & Friends, and the John Mayer “Dead” but the grateful road has never been quite the same without Jerry Garcia.

One Way Out

Go to Heaven

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GQ

Chicago played the Jones Beach Theatre on a Saturday night in August, 1995 with Eric Stewart opening.

Saturday in the State Park

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GQ

I somehow missed R.E.M. when they played at my alma mater Queens College while on the “Murmur” tour, but I did catch them at Madison Square Garden supporting the “ Monster” album on Saturday, June 25, 1995 thanks to my buddy Pat from the Video Connection hooking me up with a pair in the orchestra to the left of the stage. The “Monster” album was a harder rock version of the punk band and it played well in the arena setting. It was a great show with Michael Stipe playing the thinking man’s new wave rock star front man. The orchestra seats at the world’s most famous arena were tremendous, and a Madison Square Garden event is always special, making for a top shelf rock and roll night out with my wife watching R.E.M. perform quite possibly at its zenith.

Crush with Eyeliner

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GQ

The H.O.R.D.E. Festival arrived at the Jones Beach Theatre on September 1st of 1994 with the Allman Brothers Band headlining the Blues Traveler’s traveling road show. I would always go to see the Allman Brothers Band perform in the New York anytime they were playing nearby and they played the New York City vicinity a lot. Fortunately for me, the Allman Btothers Band was a group I never had to convince my wife to come along with me to see as she is (thankfully) a big fan also. My research indicates the 1994 incarnation of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival included acts Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow and the Black Crowes as being part of the larger bill that summer, although not necessarily at every show. The Blues Traveler is about to embark on an anniversary tour, the Robinson Brothers have a reconstituted Black Crowes line up out on the road following numerous Covid postponements the past couple of years with an acoustic duo set performance as Birds of a Feather at last year’s Newport Folk Festival; the ageless Sheryl Crow continues to rock out here, there and everywhere.

Run-Around

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GQ

The Beach Boys played the Jones Beach Theatre with America on a Saturday night in August, 1994 making for a great summer night at the beach. My favorite “Beach Boys performing at the Jones Beach Theatre” memory, and I do not recall 100% if it was this show or another, was sitting with my wife in the rear orchestra to the right of the stage when the Beach Boys brought the USC cheerleaders out on stage wearing their cheerleading outfits and with pompoms. Now USC cheerleaders are not your average college cheerleaders as they vaguely resemble Las Vegas chorus girls. At the time, and even now, I thought bringing the USC cheer team on tour with the band was complete genius for somewhat obvious reasons. I believe Carl Wilson was still touring with the band at the time as he did not pass away from lung cancer until 1998. I read Mike Love’s autobiography which sort of explained why he continues to tour with a Beach Boys line up to this day. Brian Wilson will also be on tour this summer opening for Chicago; I am not expecting much from Brian as when I last saw him perform at the Westbury Music Fair a few years ago, along with Jeff Beck, Wilson looked completely shot, and he even had trouble navigating through the crowded half round stage set up with equipment for both bands on the bill that evening after his set was done. At the time there were rumors of a Jeff Beck and Brian Wilson collaborative project which I do not think ever materialized, but somehow probably prompted the Westbury concert, but they did not perform together that night.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

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GQ