Okay, on with more concerts and weirdness.
Harry Connick, Jr. at the Santa Barbara County Bowl Aug 2, 1994 - My brother forced me to go to this show. At the time he was a big Harry Connick, Jr. fan and I was working at the evil music corporation store and was all too familiar with Connick's current album at the time She
. Yes I would have preferred to be listening to The Cure, Love and Rockets or the Pixies, but Jeff was frothing at the mouth to go to this show, so I went. Thank god I did. It ended up being an amazing performance. Connick had incredible stage presence and passion for his music and honestly seemed to be thrilled to be performing for everyone. During the encore, he and his live band rotated instruments during the song until Connick had played a solo on every instrument before finishing out the set. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would gladly see a performance of that caliber from Harry Connick, Jr. again. Bring it!*side note* After the show we went to the Wild Cat, which was actually a cool place back in those days--much less douchebaggery and fighting--and when my brother went to the restroom, one of my coworkers came up to me and asked what I would do if she kissed me. I was shocked, flattered and wholly interested, but I stupidly replied, "If I wasn't with my girlfriend I would love that." My coworker accepted that, but honestly, I didn't. The problem is that my now second evil ex-girlfriend was probably off somewhere doing meth and riding bicycles...at least she wasn't there being diabolically cruel to me. A shame, really, that I didn't take my coworker up on the offer, maybe I wouldn't have been such a quivering fucked up mess once I eventually dumped the evil bitch.
Tori Amos at the Arlington Theatre Aug 28, 1994 - This was for Tori Amos's Under the Pink
album and all in all it was a decent show. It would have been better if two things did not happen:1) I had not gone with my stupid, evil ex-girlfriend number two. I vaguely remember her being in pretty good spirits that night and she was not wasted on meth or being cruel to me, so that was a plus.
2) Slight setup here. The Arlington seating situation sucks. If someone is seated behind me, then they are screwed; I'm 6' 2". If someone taller than 5' 8" sits in front of me, then I am screwed. For the first half of the show, there were three empty seats in front of us and it was magical. Tori played Prince's "Purple Rain" and things were happy-go-awesome, but then the big man came. The big man was easily a few inches taller than me and definitely 100+ pounds heavier than me. For the last half of the concert, I essentially watched an incredibly beautiful light show coming out of this guy's ears set to nice music. At least he left two songs early, but still.
Toad the Wet Sprocket at the Arlington Theatre on...um...yeah - Okay, here's the situation. My second evil ex-girlfriend liked this band so I bit the bullet and bought tickets to this show for her birthday. As for the show itself, well...I went. *sigh*
Sarah McLachlan at the Universal Amphitheatre March 3, 1995 - I also saw Sarah McLachlan at some point prior (?) to this concert at the Ventura Theatre. There was a time that I loved Sarah McLachlan primarily for her Solace
and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
albums and the really cool Touch
album. Faithful readers (Mom and my friend's dog) please understand something. This was before Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was severely overplayed to the point where if I heard that damn song "Ice Cream" I would collapse in a fit of anger, then become overwhelmed with a sense of despair and abandonment from which I could only escape by listing to Nine Inch Nails's song "Wish
." She did, however, put on a great show and she was exceptionally charming and beyond talented and this was before the release of Surfacing
which is probably not a bad album. But, the god damn radio station at my payroll job would years later end up playing that fucking song "Adia" every hour all day long for two years straight. I can no longer listen to Sarah McLachlan because of that stupid radio station which is probably still playing the same Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Chumbawumba and that fucking "Closing Time" song to this day. Oh shit! Oh god no! I said Paula Cole! Crap cakes. Now I'll be hearing "I Don't Want to Wait" in my mind all day long. Oh the humanity! *Oh yeah, Paula Cole opened for Sarah McLachlan. *sigh*Adam Ant at the Ventura Theatre April 19, 1995 - Okay, finally something I can totally get behind. Lael and I went this show supporting the Wonderful
album tour, but we were and still are, huge Adam Ant fans. Mr. Ant put on an energetic show that touched on some of the newer songs and hit almost every one of his greatest hits. I lost my marbles when I heard "Stand and Deliver," "Friend or Foe," and "Desperate But Not Serious." Marco Pirroni was in the house to rock the guitar and he was a massive guy, towering in all ways over Mr. Ant who danced and strutted his way to a great show. One thing I could not help but notice was a slight pervading sadness from Adam Ant over the lack of response to his newer material with the exception of "Wonderful" that had throngs of radio listeners, who barely knew any of his other hits, making out in unison. "Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and your truly. In the naughty North and the sexy South, we're all singing I have the mouth."Elastica at the Palace October 17, 1995 - At the time, Elastica was a pretty big deal with their Wire sampling hit "Connection" from their self-titled album Elastica
. I remember the show being fairly short, but how could it be anything but short with only one album under their belt? Addictive pounding energy flowed through the crowd and even though things wrapped up quickly, everyone left happy. Isn't that what everyone wants?Wow, where does the time go. I still have about three or four more of these entries in me. Back soon.
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