Sunday (not Friday) Five: 9/2/07

Five concerts I would like to have seen


Okay, so I missed a couple of days on the Friday Five, but no one was breathing down my neck wondering where the post was so no harm, no foul.

I was listening to the VH1 Storytellers CD featuring Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson last weekend when I thought of this list. I was thinking to myself, “Man, that would have been a sweet concert to go to.” That got me to thinking of other concerts I’ve missed out on over the years whether I was too young, not actually alive, or in the case of one it may have never actually happened. I think you’ll see that most of them have some sort of historical significance in addition to being a concert to remember.

5) The Smashing Pumpkins’ final show, 12/2/2000

All right, so it’s not that big of a deal now that Billy Corgan has brought back the Smashing Pumpkins, albeit in an abridged form. But I came of age listening to the Pumpkins; songs like “1979,” “Muzzle,” “Disarm,” and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” were the soundtrack to those carefree years. When Corgan broke the news of the band’s breakup, people called into the radio station and cried. I don’t think I would’ve had the same reaction, but it did make me sad inside.

And the actual concert? It wasn’t just any show. The band played 35 songs over four hours. The atmosphere in The Metro must have been electric. To hear them play songs that spanned their whole career would have been nothing short of awesome, and to see what in my mind is the definitive Pumpkins lineup – Billy, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin (bassists are a dime a dozen, sorry) – would have been a memory I never forgot.

4) Nirvana – anytime around 1991-92

I was obsessed with Kurt Cobain around 2002-03 – ten years late and in the wrong part of the country, just like my hair at the time – so I know a little bit about his back story. That’s why I chose this particular time frame. He was a heroin user even then, but he wasn’t a full-on junkie. The band was still tight, perhaps even on top of their game even though In Utero, their best album, wasn’t released yet.

I get the feeling that Cobain wasn’t weary of being a rock star at that point. To me, that could only make shows around that period even better. Later in their short career, the band (though probably Kurt moreso than anyone else) tired of playing the megahits like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium.” It would be quite the downer to go see a band you love and not hear the songs that made them famous.

If I had to pick a specific show, I suppose I would skip 91-92 altogether and go with an obvious choice, the MTV Unplugged concert. Going back in time to see that would be eerie, as we all know what happened not long after that. But the music from that concert is undeniably powerful and moving, which makes it an easy choice.

3) Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Anytime, anywhere.

Yeah, I made this one up. I would think they’ve played together at some point aside from the Storytellers CD, but you never know.

My vision for this concert would be both men co-headlining, perhaps with a Storytellers-esque encore. Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three. Willie Nelson and the Family. With country music in mind, you really can’t get any better than that.

I’ll be completely honest; I didn’t get into Cash until he covered NIN’s “Hurt.” I soon realized his true genius after he died. Shortly after that I started getting into Willie as well, and my interest in classic country music was born. They have slightly contrasting styles, but both wore their hearts on their sleeves and have unmistakable voices. I really have nothing more to say here, so… Yeah, Cash and Nelson, stay the course, 1000 points of light, etc. etc.

2) Jimi Hendrix – Monterey Pop Festival, 1967

Time travel doesn’t exist (yet) but it doesn’t need to, considering this set is on DVD and will be coming out on CD sometime this fall. From the moment the first lines of “Killing Floor” blared through my speakers, I was blown away.

As far as historical significance is concerned, this was Hendrix’s coming out party in the US. I imagine some of the people at the festival didn’t know what think when Jimi came out and started rocking; he was in sharp contrast to less heavy acts such as Simon and Garfunkel and The Byrds. An interesting note about his set was that he covered The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band… a week after the record came out.

(Okay, it may not be the most difficult song in the world, but it’s still pretty damn cool, right?)

I guess I’m running out of gas down the stretch because I have nothing more to add. Then again with Jimi Hendrix, who does?

1) The Beatles – anytime in Hamburg, 1962-63

Was there any doubt that I would pick what many think is the greatest band of all time for my number one spot? I shied away from the Beatlemania period for one reason: they played ½ an hour at most, in front of 50,000 screaming fans so you couldn’t hear a damn word anyway. I ruled out their later years because a lot of the songs don’t strike me as the kind that would translate into good live numbers. So, Hamburg it is.

They played all night in sweaty nightclubs, aided by amphetamines and paid with prostitutes (and a little money too). This is where they honed their craft, playing every song they knew and probably some they didn’t. They were loud and rowdy and ass-kicking. In short, they were a rock n roll band. It was at this time that Lennon and McCartney also started writing the songs that would make up their debut album.

Unlike Nirvana, I can’t pick out a single concert I’d like to see from the Beatles. The famed rooftop concert would’ve been cool, but then again in hindsight the set list was kind of lame. Plus, it wasn’t as spontaneous as they made it seem; they were simply trying to do something that could make it into the concert film that Paul wanted to make.