Two bands in heavy rotation on the radio in 1981 played Madison Square Garden together on a Friday night in October, 1981. Billy Squier opened for Foreigner, and my greatest memory from the evening was a giant inflatable jukebox appearing onstage while Foreigner played their big hit “Jukebox Hero”. The band has managed to carry on through the years without Lou Gramm singing, and continued touring right up until the start of the pandemic with an excellent replacement frontman. Lou Gramm had left the band and gone on to a successful solo career some years ago post 1981. While I usually hate the replacement players in these iconic bands, Kelly Hansen, the “new” singer is actually quite good. Lou Gramm made a not so secret appearance, and sang the encores, with the band at a Jones Beach Theatre concert a couple of years ago coincidentally just around the time they became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the band was inducted in 2024). Original member Mick Jones had kept the Foreigner brand alive through the years with hired guns, while making only the occasional appearance himself, usually on Long Island where he reportedly lives out east mostly. I also saw the reconstituted band at the intimate Irving Plaza for a free Live Nation pre-summer event with some other well known acts that were about to hit the road and play the sheds that summer. Lou Gramm reportedly had some health issues that had kept him off the road for the most part but Foreigner kept touring without the iconic voice of Gramm and kept their classic rock arena anthems and radio friendly hits alive and well.

Double Vision

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GQ

On Saturday, August 21, 1982, my future bride and I headed to Forest Hills, Queens for the Talking Heads concert, which tour later became the “Stop Making Sense” live album, movie and, later, video/DVD. Our seats were up top to the right of the stage. As we sat there between acts, I found myself having to urinate; the bathrooms were not conveniently located as this was an old structure used for tennis tournaments, once home to the U.S. Tennis Open, and not for hard drinking concert goers. I watched a parade of guys walk up the steep aisle to the upper right corner seemingly somewhat discreetly relieving themselves over the side. As I did not want to miss the beginning of the Talking Heads set, and the stadium being packed, I decided that this might be the best course of action under the circumstances. I made my way to the upper corner where my predecessors had just relieved themselves seemingly uninterrupted, and proceeded to pee over the side onto the leaves of a tree down below. It was a pretty lengthy stream, and I was feeling quite successful while zipping up, when I turned, looked down the steep aisle, and saw a security guard walking up the stairs with a freshly combed, completely wet, head of hair. I immediately sensed that this was not good and realized that apparently he had been standing beneath the tree as I urinated on the leaves below me; he was not happy. I was escorted down the stairs and, despite my apologies as this circumstance was certainly not an intended outcome, I was helped off the property and out of the outdoor venue. My then girlfriend had no idea that any of this had transpired during the intermission, so she was still at our seats waiting, completely unaware that I was now standing outside the stadium as the Talking Heads were about to perform. August, 1982 was long before cell phone technology was common place, and security had no interest in helping me contact her to tell her that I had been effectively tossed. I scrambled while outside and attempted to tell my tale of woe to any employee who would listen and amazingly somehow found someone who would allow me back into the venue. I made my way back to the seats, sat down next to my girl just as the lights went out and the Talking Heads hit the stage. On the drive back to her Elmhurst apartment while on Queens Boulevard, my bride and I had an energetic discussion about the evening’s events, and at some point a stuffed animal found its way out of the driver window landing on the roadway and into the night.

Forest Hills Stadium has since been renovated, updated and is a phenomenal place to see a concert with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Who, Robert Plant and Mumford &Sons being just a few of the acts that have performed in Queens the past few years.

Psycho Killer

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GQ

What seemed like “pissing in the wind” at the time, Neil Young’s stand against Spotify regarding vaccine misinformation actually built momentum and made a difference (I am not a Spotify customer as vinyl, CDs, Sirius and NYA is where I get my music fix).

Apparently Joe Rogan had apologized to some extent (I am not a listener of podcasts although I have been checking out the Shuli Show on his YouTube channel for awhile now as I have stopped listening to Howard Stern for more than a year now).

The old hippies can still make a difference as Neil led the way and other musicians joined the Spotify boycott.

Mr. Young has since taken on President Trump, Amazon and continues to walk the walk right up to his 80th birthday tomorrow. Reinvigorated by the Chrome Hearts during the 2025 tour which I managed to catch at Charlotte, Jones Beach and the Hollywood Bowl, Neil has hinted a 2026 spring tour which may take him to Italy, parts of the U.S. they missed on this last tour, and beyond. I never wanted to join the circus, but I am hopeful to jump on this next tour for a number of dates, livin’ in the moment with live music; the best!

Happy Birthday Neil!

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

(My daughter shares the same birthday so I never forget Mr. Young’s)

Ambulance Blues

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GQ

This Eric Clapton and Elton John concert at Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, was memorable for many reasons. My wife, her sister, my buddy Eric snd I drove to Elmhurst to park on a side street near She Stadium as I have an aversion to pay for parking. I found a good spot nearby, but as we were locking up the car to walk over to Shea a young guy asked me for $20 to “keep an eye on the car” for me. I thought this odd as it was a legal parking space, when the light bulb came on and I realized he wanted twenty bucks to ensure it did not to get messed with by him and his buddies.

We had seats on the Shea Stadium Mets baseball field , where we soon found out they were not selling alcohol downstairs, and there was no heading back in to stadium once inside. As this was before we all had cell phones, Eric and I told security we had to make an important phone call and headed to Casey’s Bar where we quickly consumed large quantities of beers before heading back to our seats where my bride and her sister waited, looking horrified that we had bamboozled security into letting us get to the bar. Elton John opened with “Funeral For a Friend/ Live Lies Bleeding” and my buddy took the lead air guitar down the aisle like a latter day Chuck Berry. It was a night to remember to be sure, with no shortage of misadventure thrown into the mix, with Eric Clapton and Elton John providing the soundtrack.

Further On Up The Road

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GQ

I entered a Newsday contest for Journey tickets at the UBS Arena, new home to the New York Islanders. I did not “win” tickets but then received an email that I could have a pair just for being a Newsday subscriber, leading me to believe the show was far from sold out. Surprisingly the freebie seats that I was given were not bad, midway up to left of the stage. I am not sure if I had ever seen Toto before this night, but the tunes were familiar and the players were pros. After seeing the very interesting Yacht Rock doc put together by Christopher Cross’ daughter, it is amazing how Toto members are all over Steely Dan tracks and other jazz infused rock music of the 1970’s.

Journey sounded great as always; with so many radio hits you cannot help but be satisfied by the end of the evening.

I believe the last time I saw Journey perform was at the Citifield two day one- off event where Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, EWF also performed.

Africa

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GQ

The great John Mellencamp reportedly experienced a heart attack while performing at a Jones Beach Theatre concert. I am not sure if this was that show, but having had watched the guy smoke cigarettes side stage at Farm Aid, and even on stage at a more recent Beacon Theatre gig, it would not be that surprising if it happened this night in August, 1994.

Pink Houses

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GQ