Concert Memories....

July 7th, 1983
Berdoo, Calif

Fastway, Saxon, and Iron Maiden

My life long friend Virgil had an older brother (Virgil) that worked for Maiden. I got to play Nicko's drums at the sound check and was given an event jersey from the Hawaii show in Honolulu. (Eddie on surfboard)

Watched all three bands from side stage, got to meet all three bands, and with my limited 18 year old $ my choice of concert T was Fastway.


Anybody else?

Two brothers named Virgil?

Troublezone wrote:

Two brothers named Virgil?

IMHDO


Warren is/was the brother that worked for Maiden

James B. wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Two brothers named Virgil?

IMHDO


Warren is/was the brother that  worked for Maiden

I’m confused…

So Warren’s nickname is “Virgil”, and his younger brother (who was your lifelong friend) was also named Virgil.

I had mentioned this once before…

My friend kind of knows Chuck Billy from Testament. We went on a road trip to see the Thrash of the Titans benefit show when Chuck had cancer. We got an invite to go to Chuck’s house and hangout. It was very cool! I shared a joint with him, he’s a huge pothead. I don’t advocate drugs, but it was a long time ago and I thought it was cool at the time. We also went to his local pizza joint for some food. Steve DiGiorgio was there and Jon Allen from Sadus. This was shortly after the passing of Chuck Schuldiner. We mentioned something about it to DiGiorgio and of coarse he was really bummed.

Another memorable moment was when I went to the Tattoo the Earth show in San Bernardino. Igor Cavalera invited my friend and I to watch Slipknot play from the side of the stage! This was when they were still fresh and new in 2000.

Troublezone wrote:

I’m confused…

So Warren’s nickname is “Virgil”, and his younger brother (who was your lifelong friend) was also named Virgil.

Virgil and I had been friends since early grade school. He passed in 09
Warren (Poppe) is his older brother that works for Maiden.

Okay, got it.

Your first post was worded funny. Or maybe it’s just me…

My brother and I were just reminiscing about when we saw the KISS reunion tour in '96. I was too young to see the O.G.'s on their first go round in the 70s but that gig was just about the closest I've ever come to time travel.

I said to my brother, that I don't think it quite sunk in that I was actually watching the original KISS, until two or three songs in, when Paul finally spoke to the crowd ("How you doin' PEEEEEEOPLE?" or whatever) -- cuz up to that point I'd been to dozens and dozens of Kiss tribute shows, with lookalikes in makeup doing the same exact songs, but Paul's voice made it click, like "Holy shit, it's THEM! It's really, really THEM!"

I saw Megadeth on 8/9/97 with the Misfits opening. It was an outdoor venue and there was a weird vibe all day because the punk fans and metalheads didn't really mix. Also, the ground in the venue was covered in gravel which was not the best idea. The Misfits played and then Megadeth came out. During their set people started throwing gravel at the stage. Needless to say Mustaine was pissed. Fights were starting in the crowd and it was a bad scene. Dave started to address the crowd and just then a FLAMING TREE LIMB flies into the crowd from somewhere and all hell broke loose. Me and my friends got the hell out of there and left. Good times. Lol.

I remember hanging out with Onslaught on the night before their concert.

My friend and I were there for the practice and we spent time talking to the band, and had a few beers with them.

Amazing guys. Really down to earth. Sy Keeler is a great dude.

Also got to hang out with Destruction and share a beer with them. Still have a few photos for the souvenir.

Many moons ago. Went to see Bad Company. Outdoor show. Stormy day in New England.
Molly Hatchet opened. People were throwing at them. The singer got angry.
Danny Joe Brown.
More things got thrown. They walked off. Place was packed.
So much so…the crowd could sway…and you’d lose your pals.
After the show, at the hotel parking lot…..
I saw Danny Joe Brown paving back and forth….still pissed off….
7-8 people were around him ….trying to cool him down.
I was amazed. He was still boiling red hot….3 hours later.
I smiled to myself. A legit bad ass.

I was at the filming of the concert scenes for the movie Rock Star at the L.A. Forum. Wasp and Megadeth were the entertainment after the “Steel Dragon” stuff was shot. I spotted Mark Wahlberg riding a bike around all the people waiting outside before we went in. He was in the full makeup with the wig.

I like to tell this story as an example of how out-of-touch I have been with "mainstream" music since the early 1990s.

In 1995, maybe '96 (I don't remember exactly) a co-worker who was also my sometime concert buddy won tickets to New York rock radio station Q-104's anniversary show at Roseland Ballroom in NYC, and she asked me if I wanted to come with her.

The headline band was White Zombie, who I was really into at the time, so I said "hell yeah," but the rest of the bands (CIV, Spacehog, and one or two others I've forgotten) were completely unknown to me. I wasn't paying attention to radio or MTV anymore by this point in my life, I was getting all my music info from underground metal 'zines. While mainstream America was listening to post-grunge and nu-metal, I was buying Raven and Gamma Ray CDs from Japan and discovering Vicious Rumors and Iced Earth.

(EDIT: according to Google, this gig took place in Dec. of 1995 and the other bands on the bill were Everclear, God Lives Underwater, and Seaweed. I have no memory of any of them, but I'll take their word for it. )

...so anyway, a few weeks later I'm at Roseland, and I'm constantly checking my watch while all these other bands are on, cuz none of them are my style at all. I'm like "For the love of God, just get the f*ck outta the way so White Zombie can come on. "

During an intermission, some random guy with an acoustic guitar came out on stage, apparently un-announced, and starts playing a song solo. The place goes absolutely freaking ballistic. My clueless self leans over to my friend and sez "Who the f*ck is this guy?" She looks at me like I have two heads and sez "That's Gavin Rossdale, from Bush." I sez "Who the f*ck is Bush?" and she just rolled her eyes at me. That band had sold something like five million records in the U.S. that year, yet I had no clue who they were or who he was. I was like "Damn, I really *am* out of the loop." (i later learned that the song he played was called "Glycerine," and it was actually pretty good.)

Added bonus, when White Zombie finally came on (and they were worth the wait), I happened to glance over at the soundboard/lighting booth in the center of the floor and Joey Ramone was standing there, hangin' out amongst the sound/light techs, just watchin' WZ, all chill. I didn't bother him but that was the last time I saw Joey alive.

White Zombie was great in concert. First time I saw them was in Sacramento opening for Danzig on his Danzig III tour. They had the whole place going nuts! The stage show was badass also. I won't say they blew Danzig off the stage, because he was really good that night too, but it was close.

It's sad, I don't really have many concert memories that would belong in this thread. Definitely had some cool moments, but not sure they would count here. Never really hung out with bands, never really even met many. I did have a chance to see ozzy once from the side of the stage. I worked with stagehands and one of them snuck me and my ex to the side of the stage. We got up there during the opening act, but the sound was just terrible, and I didn't like it, so we went out to our seats to enjoy the show with better sound. Our seats were close enough, but looking back I kinda wished we stayed on the stage.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

White Zombie was great in concert. First time I saw them was in Sacramento opening for Danzig on his Danzig III tour. They had the whole place going nuts! The stage show was badass also. I won't say they blew Danzig off the stage, because he was really good that night too, but it was close.

It's sad, I don't really have many concert memories that would belong in this thread. Definitely had some cool moments, but not sure they would count here. Never really hung out with bands, never really even met many. I did have a chance to see ozzy once from the side of the stage. I worked with stagehands and one of them snuck me and my ex to the side of the stage. We got up there during the opening act, but the sound was just terrible, and I didn't like it, so we went out to our seats to enjoy the show with better sound. Our seats were close enough, but looking back I kinda wished we stayed on the stage.

It seems like there may be a friendly rivalry between Danzig and Zombie. Now Glen seems to be trying to follow Rob’s footsteps into movies. Too bad Danzig doesn’t know what he’s doing. And his production budget is lower than a YouTube channel.

Zombie makes decent movies for the most part, but that chick gets on my nerves. Guess it's his wife, or was or still is I don't know don't care lol Haven't seen Danzigs movies, but they look terrible. I plan on watching them for a laugh, but nothing more.

I did think of another memory sort of. Mine are always things that almost happened I guess. Me and my wife were at Ozzfest years ago. We were newly married, and she had just moved from Texas to Phoenix to be with me. So we're there enjoying the show, and she leans over and says her foot is getting wet. I look down and see a stream running between our feet. Look back and there's a dude, dick in hand kissing on the ground. I just about killed him, but I knew if I went to jail my wife would not have known how to get home from the venue, so I went to security to report him. They almost weren't going to do anything, so I told them if they leave him in his seat, I will kick the shit out of him. They moved us away from him to sort out what they were going to do.

So then, I'm starting him down waiting for security to remove him, and I hear my wife talking to a couple dudes next to us, explaining what happened. Well word spread, and before I knew it there were at least fifteen guys getting ready to beat the shit outta that dude. Security caught wind of the near riot about to happen and snatched him from his seat and escorted him out. Whole time dudes were following them, talking shit. It was awesome. Total brotherhood man. I seriously thought a riot was about to happen. Not sure what my wife said, but they were fired up. I was fired up, I just didn't wanna abandon my wife in a new city with no clue how to get home. Not like today, we didn't have gps on our cell phones back then lol

Anyways, good times.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

White Zombie was great in concert. First time I saw them was in Sacramento opening for Danzig on his Danzig III tour. They had the whole place going nuts! The stage show was badass also. I won't say they blew Danzig off the stage, because he was really good that night too, but it was close.

I had seen White Zombie one other time before that Q-104 gig, when they were still mainly a NYC thing. They were opening for Suicidal Tendencies (!) at L'amour in Brooklyn, which was late 1990 if memory serves.

White Zombie was already on stage when my friends and I got there, and quite frankly, I didn't know what the fuck I was looking at, haha. WZ was still pretty much a noise-rock band at that point, so they were just a wall of "BLEEEE-YAARRRRRRRGH," haha. I was like "these guys suck, bring on S.T.," haha

A couple of years later "Thunder Kiss '65" came out and started getting tons of radio and MTV play, and I couldn't believe it was the same band. I was like "Wow, they got good all of a sudden!"

Fat Freddy wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

White Zombie was great in concert. First time I saw them was in Sacramento opening for Danzig on his Danzig III tour. They had the whole place going nuts! The stage show was badass also. I won't say they blew Danzig off the stage, because he was really good that night too, but it was close.

I had seen White Zombie one other time before that Q-104 gig, when they were still mainly a NYC thing. They were opening for Suicidal Tendencies (!) at L'amour in Brooklyn, which was late 1990 if memory serves.

White Zombie was already on stage when my friends and I got there, and quite frankly, I didn't know what the fuck I was looking at, haha. WZ was still pretty much a noise-rock band at that point, so they were just a wall of "BLEEEE-YAARRRRRRRGH," haha. I was like "these guys suck, bring on S.T.," haha

A couple of years later "Thunder Kiss '65" came out and started getting tons of radio and MTV play, and I couldn't believe it was the same band. I was like "Wow, they got good all of a sudden!"

Yeah I actually bought their first"album" they 're-released on one of the record store days. It's total garbage lol I loved Thunder Kiss, and couldn't believe that first album was so bad. Thankfully it was a short album. More like an ep I guess, but whatever-

Rainbow & Blue Oyster Cult
1983 in Berdoo

The most boring concert I've ever attended.
Thousands of concert goers sitting on metal folding chairs with arm crossed, I smoked way more weed than usual.

One time Bobby Blitz scolded me from the stage at a venue in Santa Ana. Apparently, he saw me yawning when they were getting ready to start. I love Overkill. But he didn’t know that I sometimes have a shitty sleep schedule.

Also the local opening bands usually suck and by the time the headliner goes on, I’m over it.

Troublezone wrote:

One time Bobby Blitz scolded me from the stage at a venue in Santa Ana. Apparently, he saw me yawning when they were getting ready to start. I love Overkill. But he didn’t know that I sometimes have a shitty sleep schedule.

Also the local opening bands usually suck and by the time the headliner goes on, I’m over it.

Haha, that reminded me of a Gwar show I went to once. The opening band was X-Cops, and I had no clue that they were Gwar under a different name. They were really good live, if course, but for some reason I yelled out "you suck" during one of the songs. Well I didn't really expect them to hear me, and it was right at that moment I recognized Balsac on stage playing in this mystery band X-Cops. Yep, he heard me, gave me this look that said "you're fucked" nodded at me then went ahead and finished their set. I'm on the rail, not leaving. Gwar comes out and I immediately get just hammered with about ten solid seconds of fake blood right in the face. To this day I hope there was nothing special added to that fake blood, but I'm thinking I got pissed, puked, and God knows what sprayed all over my face lol I would rather take a scolding over what might have been.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

One time Bobby Blitz scolded me from the stage at a venue in Santa Ana. Apparently, he saw me yawning when they were getting ready to start. I love Overkill. But he didn’t know that I sometimes have a shitty sleep schedule.

Also the local opening bands usually suck and by the time the headliner goes on, I’m over it.

Haha, that reminded me of a Gwar show I went to once. The opening band was X-Cops, and I had no clue that they were Gwar under a different name. They were really good live, if course, but for some reason I yelled out "you suck" during one of the songs. Well I didn't really expect them to hear me, and it was right at that moment I recognized Balsac on stage playing in this mystery band X-Cops. Yep, he heard me, gave me this look that said "you're fucked" nodded at me then went ahead and finished their set. I'm on the rail, not leaving. Gwar comes out and I immediately get just hammered with about ten solid seconds of fake blood right in the face. To this day I hope there was nothing special added to that fake blood, but I'm thinking I got pissed, puked, and God knows what sprayed all over my face lol I would rather take a scolding over what might have been.

You win!

Troublezone wrote:

One time Bobby Blitz scolded me from the stage at a venue in Santa Anna

Was the venue "Jezebel' s"?

So me and three friends went to see Metallica on their black album tour. Me and a friend had seats together, and my other two friends had seats together a little farther from the stage than ours was. All four Seats sucked, up high nosebleed section. Me and my friend didn't have any weed, but the other two we went with did. So before we got inside, we made a trade. Two joints, and they get our slightly better seats. We finally get to our newly traded seats to find there is a giant soundboard where our seats were supposed to be. My buddies that made the trade thought this was the funniest shit they ever saw, they sit down at what was my seat, smiling their asses off. I go to security to find out WTF we are supposed to do. I'm pissed because I drove from Reno to Vegas to see this show. I'm getting ready to let this guard have it, when he tells me to relax, we got two seats on the floor for you guys. So I'm just out of my mind happy as shit, tell my other two friends to have fun, we'll be about ten rows from the stage, make sure you look for us and thanks for the weed. To this day, I can remember the looks they had, it was so priceless. They had some good weed too, went down nicely!