The great David Bowie brought his Glass Spider tour to Giants Stadium in New Jersey following the huge commercial hit project “ Let’s Dance” and his more recently released “Never Let Me Down” album. My wife and I drove to the show with my work buddy Mike and one of his then girlfriends while he was in between marriages. An empty plastic one gallon milk carton was filled with Meyers rum and orange juice in a long ago time when such items were allowed into the stadium. The rum concoction did its trick, and I vaguely remember Bowie performing at some point high above the stage and among the lights and scaffolding. The iconic Bowie is still one of my favorites and I hope to visit the limited engagement pop up store celebrating his 75th birthday located near one of his residences in downtown Manhattan sometime in January, 2022; I am guessing Bowie 75 might echo the tremendous Brooklyn Museum exhibit I was fortunate to experience a few years back.

Modern Love

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GQ

I vaguely recall attending the Moody Blues and Til Tuesday concert at the Jones Beach Theatre in July, 1987 and have seen the band a number of times through the years. I just recently saw Justin Hayward at the Paramount in Huntington and it was reminiscent of his City Winery appearance a couple of years ago. Mr. Hayward played with guitarist and keyboardist and was in fine voice; it was a phenomenal feel good show. Unfortunately long time Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge recently passed at 80 making it more unlikely the group might tour again as the band members are getting up there in age, as many of our musical hero’s of the 1960’s and 1970’s are at this point. My feeling is next year will be a big year for live music as the older artists who have been on the shelf for two years attempt a victory lap with the accompanying revenue streams before they are unable to. In the meantime, at least for one evening, Justin Hayward reminded us of how powerful the Moody Blues musical legacy still is with an outstanding stripped down performance with delightful stories interspersed.

I owned quite a few singles when I was a kid, and followed the record charts every Sunday in the newspapers, but “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” was only the second long playing record I owned after “Meet the Beatles”; the Moody Blues album was purchased for me by my father as he knew I loved the song “The Story in Your Eyes” which was getting a lot of radio airplay at the time. All these years later, the Moody Blues music still holds up, and likely always will, as they are clearly one of the greatest acts in rock and roll musical history.

Gemini Dream

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GQ

I literally have no recollection of this Crosby, Still & Nash concert at Radio City Music Hall but I am more surprised that I had not gone to a show in 1987 until July 7th. This is quite possibly the longest concert drought for me until 2020 with the pandemic quarantine and the live music shutdown.

Wasted on the Way

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After seeing Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Rusted Garage tour in New Jersey, next up was half of CSNY, and formerly good friends, David Crosby & Graham Nash playing the Westbury Music Fair in the round in December, 1986. I am pretty sure that it was during this concert when I witnessed David Crosby sing a cappella, without amplification, at the 1800 seat venue; the performance was stunning. David Crosby is a freak with amazing pipes to this day. It is unbelievable that with the abuse that David famously inflicted on his health and body for so many years, his voice is still magnificent; what a gift! As I recall, the band that evening consisted of Crosby, Nash with John Ferrentino on keyboards performing songs stripped down, yet still powerful, with their extraordinary harmonies on display. While it seems unlikely that the two will perform together again any time soon, David & Graham are still creating art separately, as true artists will do, and their rock and roll legacy is undeniable.

Out of the Darkness

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GQ

Neil Young & Crazy Horse brought the Rusted Garage Tour to New Jersey’s Meadowlands, on a Saturday night in September of 1986. The tour harkened back to the Rust Never Sleeps tour of 1978 with the larger than life stage props as a backdrop to the Crazy Horse rock and roll musical experience. Neil has recently been working with the reconfigured Crazy Horse during the pandemic years with Nils Lofgren replacing Frank “Poncho” Sampedro after a freak accident caused him to retire from playing guitar with the band; original member Ralph Molina is still playing drums with Billy Talbot holding down the base in Young’s distortion friendly ensemble. One memorable moment for me was Neil Young & Crazy Horse playing “ “Walk Like a Giant” in Central Park for the Global Citizen concert at such a volume that reportedly the ground shook and windows rattled throughout Manhattan during rehearsals.
The last time I saw the band was two nights in Winnipeg in 20 below weather in February a couple of years ago; an incredible experience I will never forget.

Don’t Spook the Horse

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GQ

I was working at my law enforcement job for almost a year when I traveled to New Jersey in July, 1986 with my new buddy from work, Mike, to see Van Halen and Bachman Turner Overdrive at the Meadowlands complex, home of Giants Stadium. I was never a big fan of the trip, or the venue itself, so it was a relatively rare occasion to attend a concert at Brendan Byrne Arena, but this show was worth the hassle. Our seats were about midway up and dead center with BTO opening a great double bill. Van Hagar was in top form and the band seemingly was having a great time rocking the house. Thirty five years later, Detective Mike and I are still good friends (although. I cannot seem to convince him to attend any more shows).

My Generation

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GQ

Lou Reed was a true original; he has always been one of my favorite artists.

I caught Mr. Reed in July of 1986 in New York City at the great rock and roll club The Ritz (now Webster Hall).

Dirty Boulevard

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GQ

The progressive rock “supergroup” GTR showcased Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe with Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett; former Yes and Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes produced the GTR album. Howe still performs with a Yes line up and Hackett continues to tour solo, playing his own compositions and those Genesis songs he contributed to prior to “And Then There Were Three” when the band leaned toward a more radio friendly “pop” sound, showcasing primarily shorter “catchier” tunes. I caught Steve Hackett with his band at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury a few years ago and I was quite impressed with a performance that made me appreciate the guitarist’s incredible talent. The GTR project was short lived but it was an interesting collaboration at the time, and part of their collective and individual musical journeys (and mine).

When the Heart Rules the Mind

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GQ

In our minds, local heavy metal heroes, Twisted Sister, had made the big time by playing Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan on a Friday night in January, 1986. Touring behind the “Come Out and Play” collection with the flip up album cover and song echoing the cult classic movie “The Warriors”, this concert felt like a coronation after years of crushing it in the Long Island club scene and beyond. A chain link fence was, what seemed like at the time, an elaborate and appropriate backdrop to the legendary band playing on such an iconic stage. The tour may have also been the beginning of the end as I read somewhere that the tour itself was not financially successful, but for the diehards in the audience that night, it was a raucous celebration.
For those of us that were on the front lines, the concert at Radio City Music Hall was the culmination of many rocking nights at clubs like Speaks, Hammerheads, Rockaways and our favorite local club, Beggars Opera on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. I had bought the indie label vinyl records and proudly carried my fragile S.M. F. Friend of Twisted Sister plastic card in my wallet until it was missing pieces and ultimately lost when my wallet was dropped on Queens Boulevard and later returned in the mail from downtown Manhattan missing only a little bit of cash and my treasured S.M.F. credit card sized plastic membership memento from the early daze.
I later met an interesting IT dude while I was working in law enforcement who looked vaguely familiar with an interesting unique goatee. My suspicions that this gent was the great bass player Mendoza who was now utilizing his talents to train my people on the down low. I called him into my office and asked him point blank and he laughed. I told him about my S.M.F. Friend of Twisted Sister card story and he said he would have liked to have seen it as there were not a lot of them left. I never gave him up to our personnel, as he said the celebrity thing sometimes got in the way of his side gig as a tech wizard.
Twisted Sister was one of the great bands and success stories in the history of rock and roll.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame worthy?

Hell Yeah!

We’re Not Gonna Take It

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GQ

Neil Young & the International Harvesters performed at Pier 84 in Manhattan in September, 1985 with opener Nicolette Larson, who scored a big hit with Young’s song “Lotta Love”. I was sworn in with the police department on August 30 and was about to embark on my law enforcement career, and a police academy, so I am not even sure how I found myself attending this particular concert (but according to my records I apparently did).

Grey Riders

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GQ