Concerts 1984-1988
As a huge Gilmour fan it was another great opportunity to see him when I lived in Syracuse.
Above: an article in Relix Magazine from 1979.
I saw Black Uhuru perform at the Pier but haven’t confirmed the date. It may have been the year before.
Carlton Bryan solos, Tyrone Downie helps out on the keyboards.
Steel Pulse at Pier 84, NYC, 1984
David Hinds and Tyrone Downie.
David Hinds, Tyrone Downie and Carlton Bryan.
I had taken these photos but had no stub and had a hard time confirming the exact date of this show.
Steel Pulse’s fifth studio album, Earth Crisis, came out as 1983 passed into 1984, and it was another strong one. As usual, the album tracks were nicely complimented by a few dub and extended versions (of songs like “Roller Skates,” and “Stepping Out”) that became available in the record shops that year.
Steel Pulse remained mostly in its original configuration, with Phonso Martin still in the band, although there was a change in the lead guitar slot. I hadn’t heard anything about it previously, and when they hit the stage I was very surprised to see Carlton Bryan up there. As detailed in previous posts, Carlton’s own band had been almost a house band at The Haunt, “Upstate NY’s reggae capital,” in 1981-2, and I saw him play there many times.
Another great surprise came when David Hinds announced that Tyrone Downie would sit in on keyboards. One fantastic and influential multi-keyboardist, Downie joined up with Bob Marley and the Wailers early on and provided so much to the classic sounds of all of the great Bob Marley studio records. He was the regular keyboard player during the Wailers tours, including the one I saw in 1979.
The wide image at top of Carlton soloing with David looking on and Tyrone holding down the keyboards is one of my favorites. Carlton is playing the double-necked guitar that is shown on the cover of a studio album from around that timeframe.
Steel Pulse in 1984 with Tyrone Downie and Carlton Bryan joining. Phonso Martin at right, Bumbo on keyboards at left.
Freddie McGregor opening up for Steel Pulse at the Pier.
The first and only time I would see Roger outside of Pink Floyd. Clapton played guitar on this tour.
Another one of the Concerts on the Pier, Dennis Brown.
The cool ruler of lover’s rock and reggae music, Dennis Brown was one of Bob Marley's favorite singers, and one of mine too.
The Lonestar Cafe was downtown on Fifth Avenue and 13th St. This Toots show took place over the Winter holiday break, I believe, but cannot otherwise confirm the date.
The big Born in the USA Tour settled into the Dome for a couple of nights.
Still part of Purple Rain Tour, although the album had been out awhile. The show was broadcast to Europe and I recall that for purposes of that broadcast Prince called out at times, mentioning the broadcast, and referring to the location as "New York," ..... never mentioning Syracuse. Amazing to see this show recently released as a special DVD.
Travelled down to Binghamton from SU to see this show. The price was less than $10. REM had a sort of cult following and most recently had released their Fables of the Reconstruction album. This is such a small venue that we ordered a dominos pizza to the venue, stepped outside to get it from the delivery guy, and then sat on the floor of the gym eating slices before the show. Although they were barely known at the time, within the space of just a couple of years REM would appear on the cover of the Rolling Stone under the caption "The Greatest Band in America." Michael Sipe wore his trademark overcoat. After the show a friend convinced one of the roadies to give him one of the setlists that was taped up on the stage. The setlist included covers of CCR and Velvet Underground tunes during a 5-song "second encore."
More to come on my experiences during this very hot day in Philadelphia.
In 1986 there were still shows at The Ritz, and still with late start times (this one was called for 11pm).
This was my first of many great performances by Elvis.
This was the opening show of Elvis' 1986 run on Broadway. Previous to these shows, I had not heard of any rock bands playing shows in a true Broadway theatre (while the Beacon is on Broadway, it is not in the "theatre district"), and so this was truely a special event.
On the two nights I attended, he played with the original members of the Attractions, including Bruce Thomas on bass. This night was a regular show by the Attractions, while on other nights he did the Spinning Songbook show or played with the Confederates.
I was fortunate to have excellent Orchestra seats for N1.
News coverage of the Broadway run of shows.
This show took a different format than N1. Elvis would continue to do “Spinning Songbook” shows in later years; to my knowledge this was the first such show. There was a spinning “wheel of fortune” onstage with names of songs, and with some members of the audience having a chance to spin the wheel and/or dance with go-go dancer "Kitty" in a cage onstage. As Wayne Robbins mentions in the review below, the first line of “Accidents Will Happen” provided a perfect opening for this ‘Broadway’ show when the curtain opened. Looking back after seeing many later Costello shows, it was the only time I saw the Attractions in their original form, playing a regular set onstage.
More news clippings from this run of shows.
Above: Pages from the Tour program, and the Radio City handbill, for OMD’s Pacific Age 1986 Tour
This was one BAD-assed concert if you know what I mean.
Club 1018 was a nightclub on 10th Avenue and 18th street in the meatpacking district. My first BAD show and I had no idea that this would end up being one of the craziest, hottest shows I have ever seen. Don Letts did his raps and scratch routines and the audience went nuts and was jumping high into the air during "The Bottom Line" and other high points of the show. The live versions of "Bottom Line" contained the "part 2" segment (which is alluded to but not played on the album track):
“Romeo Romeo
theres gotta be a show
Romeo Romeo
there’s gotta be a show
Well four more years of the same old jive
You know you must be one, you know you gotta stay alive
Take a tip from one who knows
I can find the way to go…..
We’re not talking about the Third World War or who’s not being fair,
We’re just saying they can drop the bomb and we dont even care
You cant assemble a tank for urban warfare
When you’re blobbing out in your living room chair …..
Bozo Bozo
Alcohol No No
Bozo Bozo
Alcohol No No
Remeo Romeo
there’s gotta be a show
Romeo Romeo
there’s gotta be a show
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo”
[excerpted, no claim to original]
The second album was out, with “Dial a Hitman” featuring Matt Dillon. During the show there were a bunch of videos playing including one with the sequence with Matt Dillon for that song.
