Regrets...I've Had A Few...

I recently read a music blogger describe how he, and most of the punters at the gig, missed Joy Division cuz they were all at the bar, waiting for the Buzzcocks to go on. Of course, JD would become one of his all-time fave bands. Gawd! I just cringed when I read that. Tho I have some cringe-worthy moments:

- missing the Clash when they were gonna play The Hollywood Palladium cuz my friend and I didn't have our drivers' license yet; we really tried to get one friend of ours who did have his license to go, but he wasn't interested; jeez, we should have taken the bus. But I did later see Joe Strummer solo, right up close, so I don't feel so bad.

- I won tickets to see the Gun Club, but it was way the hell down in Long Beach, I really couldn't take the bus; my friend, also a big Jeffrey Lee fan, couldn't borrow his mom's car for the night. DAMN. This one really kills me.

- Wish I'd seen Sinatra, but by the time I was old enough to appreciate him, he was losin' it. Should have gone anyway.

The Who in 1980. Moon was gone by then, of course, but still, that was my first realistic opportunity to see the band at all. The next time they came through Colorado was on their "Farewell Tour" in 1982. I don't remember why I didn't get tickets to either show. They've toured more than once since then, but ticket prices have always been too high for me -- and apparently, without Entwistle, their performances offer limited returns.

The Rolling Stones in 1981. They came through Colorado on their Tattoo You tour, but, again, I didn't go. No real explanation why on this one either. They skipped Colorado on their next tour; after that, their ticket prices got way higher than what I was willing to pay.

Queen in 1982. Their first Denver appearance since 1974 (when they made their Stateside debut, opening for Mott the Hoople). It turned out to be their last. I had an evening-shift job, and couldn't get off work. "Oh well," I remember thinking, "they'll be back."

U2 at Red Rocks in 1983. I had tried to get tickets to their previous Colorado appearances; they all sold out too fast. This one sold out too. Yeah, I wouldn't have enjoyed being out in the rain all day ... but it'd be cool to be able to say I was there.

Nirvana in 1992. I was a newlywed, and my wife and I simply were too broke.

I also regret not seeing The English Beat, in their original lineup, or INXS, back when Michael Hutchence was in his prime. (Reports from several participants on this board have convinced me, I missed something outstanding.)

Jeff Buckley played Austin many times in the first couple of years of his career, including at least one solo show at one of our folk clubs. I never went to see him for the usual spurious reasons - it was in the middle of the week and I didn't want to stay out late, I didn't want to spend the money, "I'll catch him next time." I never saw him play and that one still kills me.

In the early/mid 90s, I was on the guest list for a Paul Westerberg show at Liberty Lunch in Austin. I also had tickets to another, earlier show (never mind who) that same night at a club about two blocks away. Those tix were given to me as a birthday present, so I felt obligated to go; the plan was to hit Liberty Lunch after and see as much of the Westerberg show as I could. After the earlier show, I decided I was tired and would blow the Westerberg show off. (The fact that I wasn't crazy about Westerberg's solo material didn't help.) I found out the next morning that Bob Mould, who was living in Austin at the time, jumped up on stage with him and they played several songs together. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

I also missed the legendary Nirvana show at Liberty Lunch during the Nevermind tour; I think it hit the Lunch a week or so before the album came out, and even though I'd heard of them, I wanted to hear the album before I'd commit to going to see them. Naturally, I never saw them.

I also blew off a Thin White Rope show in the early 90s; I'd actually gone because my pals the Wannabes were the opening band, but I was so exhausted from work that day that after the 'bes finished, I went home. I later came to appreciate TWR much more and regretted not staying that night, which I think was the tour for The Ruby Sea; I bet I'd've been an earlier convert.

I spent three years in the early 90s living in Springfield, IL, a place where no bands ever ventured, save for the delightful Vulgar Boatmen on one occasion. It was three hours from Chicago and an hour and a half from St. Louis - not a great commute either direction for shows when one had a job.

My three year exile coincided with the early 90s alt-rock explosion, when bands that at any other time would never (and have never) come near St. Louis were stopping in there, because alt-rock bands could make money everywhere they went in those days and cities didn't get skipped as much as they do now.

I can't remember all the bands that passed through the Lou at the time on weeknights, where I had to calculate whether the 200 mile round trip would be feasible, what with having to go to work the next day. More often than not, I chose not to go. (The other galling part about this is that in the early 90s, I could still tolerate my fellow audience members - they were all the 80s stalwarts who were finally getting to do a victory lap. Nowadays, I loathe 95% of other concert goers, which is why I stay home now more often than not.)

The notable shows that do stick out in my memory that I wish I'd made the drive for:

My Bloody Valentine/Dinosaur Jr.
The Ocean Blue/Kirsty MacColl
Nirvana
Lemonheads/Milla Jovovich (Seen the Lemonheads plenty of times, didn't get to see the lovely Milla during her sadly discarded musical career)
Uncle Tupelo's farewell shows

It doesn't help that my brother DID go to most of those shows and fondly reminisces about them, especially the riot at the Nirvana show.

Didn't go to see The Clash because of some scary types from my school that were going. My friend said he was right at the front and looking a little the worse for wear so Mick Jones gave him one of his orange juices.

I'd just started to have some success with fake ID when New Race played at my local but I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about 'til I realised the significance of their pedigree.

Wasn't mad about the first Big Day Out line up and am still sick of stories about The Beasts Of Bourbon blowing Nirvana away. Saw the Beasts at the following BDO and they were so drunk they could hardly stand up.

Joe Strummer & The Pogues announced they were touring, then cancelled.
The Jam announced they were touring, then cancelled.

Found out about New Bomb Turks after they had toured. I have friends that still bang on about a particular Sydney pub gig.

I passed up seeing OMD opening for Tears for Fears in StL in the mid-80s, because I was feeling over both those bands at the time. To the best of my knowledge, that's the only occasion either of them have been within 300 miles of me.

I declined to see REM on the Murmur tour because they played the Old Glory Amphitheater at the local Six Flags. I didn't know anyone else who liked them at the time who could go with me, and at 20 years old I was not yet pathetic enough to go to an amusement park by myself.

As a college student new to NYC, some friends said they were heading down to CBGB to see a band called Galaxie 500. I passed. A few years later, I bacame a huge fan after discovering On Fire. But the band had broken up by then ... I also passed on Nirvana at the Marquee Club in 1990 or 91. In the Army in 1988, I passed up an opportunity to see Townes Van Zandt at a small Austin club. Another artist I "discovered" after the fact.

Circa 1982/1983, XTC came to my town off the usual musical tracks for a show at an unconventional venue. It wasn't always easy to learn about shows in those pre-internet days. XTC was not very popular and the show's promotion was pretty meager. So I only heard about it after it had taken place.

My friend and I cursed the radio station that had promoted the hell out of some competing show we had no interest in, and never mentioned this one until it was over.

This was, of course, the last time XTC ever toured in North America.

The only show I regret missing was The Replacements in '89 on their Don't Tell a Soul Tour. I'm pretty sure it was on a Monday night and I had baseball practice after school and a game the next day, so I didn't want to stay out too late. My friend went and raved about how great it was.

Now, I have been to a few shows that I regret going to...The Cure at Miami Arena, for example.

- Passed up seeing Devo in `83 but I was 14 and not very adventurous so I don't know how I would've gotten there.

- Went to go see Chuck Brown but it was sold out when I got to the club. I never bothered to see him again.

- The Pogues - one of the few times I actually purchased tickets ahead of time and went to the club - cancelled

- Fugazi - I was always too chicken to go their shows. I don't think it was because of the threat of violence, I think I was afraid I'd be pointed out as a poseur. Yeah, I know, everything's about me. Well, it's my imagination.

- Jazz Butcher - it was after I had finished up coaching and I just didn't feel like going and stand around and deal with all of the smokers. That was the beginning of my self-imposed 10 year hiatus - where I imagine I missed all sorts of great shows.

- Portishead - it was $20 and I didn't want to pay that much. A dumb rule I had back then, I only went to shows that cost less than $20.

- agree with Fab on Sinatra and I will add James Brown.

This was back in '87 when I and my girlfriend at the time had a film class at Temple University. We were struggling to get a film done on time, and the Ramones were playing at Temple on the night we had to get the last splices in. Unfortunately, we had to do more work on the film to get it in on time and we missed the concert. It's a shame, because our film was really, really bad. It was about a college student who had trouble writing his dissertation, so a fairy appeared and typed the paper for him. Shit, I'm embarrassed writing that. Looking back, we should've asked for an extension, hired a young man named M. Night Shyamalin to do the film, and checked out the Ramones. No wonder we lost touch over the years.



Post Edited (10-17-14 19:13)

so mrFab has regrets aye?
if i were from l.a. i'd wouldn't regret music (see avi buffalo) but i certainly would wonder why (?) the city of angels have had to suffer in their jocks with shitty footy teams from other states the past thirty years instead.



Post Edited (10-17-14 21:58)

The Chargers don't look shabby, Steve ... LA is close enough to jump on that bandwagon.

los angeles,
the city where studio musicians can play you anything you want to hear.

see: THAT THING YOU DO!

every punk knows the bay area is the sound of california.

see: EMILY"S ARMY- don't be a dickhead

Probably mentioned most of these in a similarly-themed thread, but regrets include:

Missing the band opening for Sonic Youth because my friend wanted to chill in the lobby. Of course that band was Nirvana.

Bands I figured I'd see "next time", little knowing it'd be THE last time said bands (or at least key members) would be in town (Brainiac, Exploding Hearts, Throbbing Gristle reunion (RIP Sleazy), etc.).

Ditto with local bands that you figure you can always catch next time they played, until they break up and scatter across the world (e.g. The Vanishing).

Also I was driving to the Rocket From the Crypt show when the frigging hood opened up on me while I was on the freeway!!! (My then-car was such a POS that apparently the screws literally vibrated out of the sockets). Fortunately I managed to get to the side of the road w/o hitting anything (AAA came and used rope to tie the hood back to my car) but needless to say I missed that show. (Though apparently RFTC were too shit-faced that night to be on top of their game).

"Ditto with local bands that you figure you can always catch next time they played, until they break up and scatter across the world (e.g. The Vanishing)."

Oh, man...I gotta say, us Austinites are the kings of taking our local scene for granted. There are great bands that have broken up because, even though their name is on everybody's lips, they barely drew because those same folks always said, "I'll go see 'em next time." We're really, really bad about that. Editorials have been writen about it ad nauseum.

In my personal experience, I blew off seeing Glass Eye when I first moved here in 1991, unaware it was their last year, and thus didn't see them until their one-off reunion last year at the Brent Grulke tribute show. I saw the Reivers every time they came to Houston, but when I moved to Austin, I saw them only once, at the Pop Beloved record release show, because I figured I could see them anytime. They broke up just a few months later.

I missed Slowdive and Levitation in NYC when they played with Blur.

We'd neglected to buy tickets in advance and so we got to stand outside the door of the Marquee for a few moments of frustration before we walked off into the night looking for a place to get soused. What else was there to do, really?

Also, I passed up a chance to go see Nirvana at some stadium or other.

All time biggest regret... In September of 1980, I saw the video for "Passing Strangers" on the TV show "Hollywood Heartbeat." It blew my 16 year old mind. And my friends' minds. The next month, Ultravox's US tour hit the Cuban Club in Tampa, 90 miles away from Boreblando, where I lived. No one I knew had a car yet. It took me another two months to find a copy of "Vienna," and with that they were my favorite band. I figured I would see them on subsequent tours which never came anywhere near the Southeast, much less Florida. I should have taken a cab (but didn't have the money for it any way). Insult to injury? Over the next decade, I would become friends with almost everybody in Orlando who did make the trek!! Gaaaah!!!

At least I did see Sinatra... Three times, in fact! First time was a benefit at the USF Sundome (yes, in Tampa)! Indifferent show marred by the usual bad sound there. Thank goodness funnyman Jan Murray opened!! Second time, a killer show at the Orlando Arena a few years later. Heavy on the classic Capitol era tunes, and well performed. The last time was on the 75th Anniversary tour (the Stones will be able to do this soon) also at the same venue. Heavy on more upbeat, seriously belted pop. Sung with complete verve and power. Having had two excellent Sinatra experiences under my belt covering his two strengths, I bowed out for what would have been his final appearance in my town; opting (wisely) that year to catch Mel Torme instead! A wise choice. Mel had a stroke the next year. So no regrets on that score either.



Post Edited (11-04-14 16:56)

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Welcome back, Monk!

Mentioning Sinatra reminds me that Cary Grant did a lecture tour shortly before he passed away, and a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go when the tour came through St. Louis. I declined, much to my regret.

Yet I don't seem to learn, since in recent years I've skipped similar events by Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett. Why I so stupidly keep declining opportunities to see legends while they're still around is beyond me.