January 17, 1981
Stevie Wonder - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Ticket Price - $12.50
I grew up listening to Stevie around the house. Songs in the Key of Life and Innervisions were two of my favorites. It was one of those shows where you knew every single song and the performance was flawless; Stevie definitely didn’t disappoint. I really loved this show, although, I did feel a bit underdressed in my jeans and flannel.
March 7, 1981
Cheap Trick – New Haven Coliseum
Opening Act – U.F.O.
Ticket Price - $7.50
A memorable show for me even though I don’t remember much of it. I brought a girl to the show, I’ll call her Patty. It was a first date as well as her first concert. My friend Rob drove and our friend Wendy came along too. On the ride to the show it didn’t take long for me to realize that I really wasn’t attracted to her. We drank a bit and smoked a bit in the parking lot before we went in. We found our seats which were one level up from the floor. A bunch of my friends happened to be down on the floor and I made my way down to them. I pulled my hidden bottle of Jeremiah Weed (“He was a Hell of a Railroad Man”) out of my pants and proceeded to get really drunk. A security guy came over to take away the bottle so I guzzled it quick. He took the empty and walked away shaking his head.
I was a big fan of U.F.O., especially guitarist Michael Schenker but to be honest, I don’t remember too many details of their set. I can remember singing along to “Rock Bottom” and my favorite U.F.O. tune “Only You Can Rock Me” but a lot of it is fuzzy. A few joints were passed around and I was pretty lit, actually, I could barely stand.
After U.F.O.’s set Rob makes his way down to the floor and informs me that Patty is pretty upset because I’ve left her up there and she’s crying. I slurred “I don’t give a f*ck” or something close to that and I stayed put. I doubt I could have made it up the stairs anyway.
I don’t really remember Cheap Trick at all.
I don’t remember the ride home at all but the next day Rob told me he took Patty back to his house. He tried making out with her but she would have none of it. She kept saying “I really like Chris”. Go figure.
I did see Patty, who is married with kids, about 15 years later and I apologized profusely. She barely remembered the incident.
March 17, 1981
REO Speedwagon – New Haven Coliseum
Ticket Price - $7.50
REO Speedwagon was riding high on the success of “Hi Infidelity” and the #1 hit song “Keep On Loving You”. Eventually 6 of the songs from this record would reach the Billboard Charts. I was familiar with REO before this LP because I owned an earlier album, “Ridin’the Storm Out” that I bought from the department store Bradlees when they were clearing out all of their records for 25 cents each. Having been a recording and touring band for 10 years, at this point, REO put on a pretty good show but this was them at their peak and like a lot of other popular 80’s bands they began playing smaller and smaller clubs. Now a couple of members still tour the club and festival circuit trying to recapture the magic.
April 4, 2007
Beatlemania – Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
Ticket Price - $10.00
Close your eyes and it sounds just like the Beatles. Open them and it’s 4 guys in Halloween costumes.
May 3, 1981
Rainbow – Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
Opening Act – Pat Travers
Ticket Price - $7.50
My Mom, who was in Art School at the time, asked me to shoot some slides of the show for a project she was doing. She gave me her 35mm Nikon and some rolls of slide film. I shot lots of photos of the bands as well as the crowd.
This was a really solid show with 2 great, seasoned bands. Pat Travers was touring for his “Radio Active” album. Pat wasn’t a real big hit maker but he had a loyal fan base. The only songs that got airplay were “Boom Boom Out Go the Lights” and “Snortin’ Whiskey”; 2 great rock & roll party songs. Pat puts on a great show and his band was full of great musicians.
Rainbow has gone through many line-ups. This touring band consisted of Don Airey (keyboards); Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Roger Glover (bass); Bobby Rondinelli (drums) and Joe Lynn Turner (vocals).
At these point all of these guys had been around for years and they put on one helluva show. I managed to get a lot of great photos for my Mom to use in her project. She used “Man on the Silver Mountain” as the soundtrack and created a slide show. I believe she got an A.
July 8, 1981
Fountainhead – Toad’s Place, Waterbury, CT
Ticket Price – Free Guest Pass
A great local band that has been around for years; they play crunchy southern rock just as well as the big boys.
July 12, 1981
The Doobie Bros. – Hartford Civic Center
Ticket Price - $10.50
I saw these guys more than any other band. They always put on a great show and you recognize every song they play. This tour was to promote “One Step Closer”. These guys are still out there doin’ their thing after all these years.
July 16, 1981
Van Halen – Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
(note typo on stub)
The original Van Halen! This was a great show. They were in their prime and looked like they were still having fun. This tour was to promote “Fair Warning”, which I felt was a pretty solid album but it didn’t sell as well as some of the others. This was when bands really played to the arenas and stadiums; pyrotechnics, big stages and long individual solos for each member. The fans ate it up and I loved it.
July 31, 1981
Foghat - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Ticket Price - $9.50
The tour was to promote “Girls to Chat and Boys to Bounce”. This was a band that was pretty big in the 70’s and unfortunately, the 80’s saw their star begin to fade. Lonesome Dave had recently left the band and was replaced by Erik Cartright. He did a fine job but he was no Lonesome Dave. The hits all went over well but I wasn’t familiar with some of the newer songs. All-in-all it was still a fun show by a great party rock band.
August 2, 1981
Ozzy Osbourne - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Ticket Price - $9.50
I was (and still am) a huge Sabbath fan and I loved Ozzy’s first 2 solo releases as well. Randy Rhodes was catapulted into stardom and became a huge influence on guitarists everywhere even though he only played on 2 records. This show was 7 months before his death.
My friends all had tickets and I didn’t but I figured I could buy one from a scalper so I went along. When we got to the Arena I saw that the show wasn’t sold out so I went to the box office. I asked for one ticket and I got 11th row on the floor! Score! I was able to get right up to the stage and stand about 10 feet from Randy through most of the show. They played most of the tracks from both of the Ozzy albums as well as “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”, which sent the place into a frenzy. A memorable show for me.
September 20, 1981
Blue Oyster Cult - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Ticket Price - $10.50
They were touring for “Fire of Unknown Origin and the hit single “Burnin’ for You” was riding the charts. They were a GREAT 70’s rock band and this was their last hit before their star began to fade and they were relegated to classic rock radio.
They did put on a great show and they played all of the songs I wanted to hear; “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, “Cities on Flame With Rock & Roll”, “7 Screaming Diz-Busters” and, of course “Godzilla”.
October 7, 1981
E.L.O. – Hartford Civic Center
Ticket Price - $10.50
The first rock band I ever became interested in was the Electric Light Orchestra. In 1976 I heard “Livin’ Thing” on the radio and it was really different from anything else I had heard. I told my dad I wanted “A New World Record” and he bought it for me. My dad, who has many interests, likes to support other people’s interests so he bought me all of the other ELO records available as well. Liking ELO led to me liking other bands of the era; Kiss, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Foghat, etc.
This tour was in support of the “Time” LP. These guys were just amazing. Jeff Lynne is one of the greatest pop songwriters of all time and he and the rest of the band didn’t fail to deliver. They played hit after hit and they had an amazing light show to boot. They still hold an important place in my heart as far as music goes.
October 8, 1981
Journey – Hartford Civic Center
Ticket Price - $11.50
The Escape Tour. I walked from my house to Bradlees Department Store to buy the 8-Track of Escape. On the way home I slipped while stepping up on a low concrete wall and split my chin open. A great 80’s record but a very unmemorable concert.
October 11, 1981
Blackfoot – Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
Opening Act – Def Leppard
Ticket Price - $10.50
This is just before Def Leppard became huge. They were touring for High ‘N’ Dry, which eventually went multi-platinum. They were really great for such a young band.
Blackfoot put on a really solid, polished show. They had some pretty big hits; “Train, Train” and “Highway Song” both on the “Strikes” album. Most memorable is singer/guitarist Ricky Medlocke, a terrific front man with a commanding presence.
October 18, 1981
Foreigner – Hartford Civic Center
Ticket Price - $10.50
Foreigner was still quite huge at this point. They were touring for the album “4” and had some huge radio hits that summer. The first was “Urgent” and the second was “Juke Box Hero”. They had a huge stage to perform on with a really great light show. Most memorable was the enormous juke box that inflated on the stage during “Juke Box Hero”.
November 20, 1981
Earth Wind & Fire – Hartford Civic Center
Ticket Price $11.50
I grew up listening to this amazing band and I was really excited to see them. I felt underdressed at the show. For some reason most of the crowd was dressed really nice.
They put on quite the spectacle. They had an enormous stage with a giant pyramid in the center. The show started with a huge magic trick with costumes, lasers and a battle. Really cool. They were touring for the “Faces” album. There were no great songs on this record but they had enough hits to make up for it. They also took off on a couple of long jams that were quite enjoyable. They are such a tight, dynamic band and I enjoyed every minute of it.
December 31, 1981
The Allman Brothers - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Ticket Price - $11.50
New Years Eve with the Allmans. A lot of smoking and drinking and not much remembering.
