My very first concert?....I went to the Doobie Bros in the late 70's...I was the benefactor of a Strict Quaker upbringing, Told the folks they sang 'Jesus is just alright with me', and got the trepidacious Parental go ahead to witness my first English Rumspringa Concert!........Chugged down an 8 pack of Little Kings in the parking lot, smuggled in a half pint of 'Kesslers Smooth as Silk' whiskey down in my sock, and got my groove on....This was in the Fall of 1977 or thereabouts...cant remember exactly, but before the final alfalfa harvest...I was certainly drunker than a bicycle I will admit...Not too drunk to drive the Team of Belgians..but not really firing on all 8 cylinders for sure...
...All I can remember, there was an old albino guy there, seeing the World in prepubescent double vision, he was there at both events!..big old fruzzed out Q tip skinny b'tard 7' tall...had an afro big as a garbage can lid! White as a cotton sock, pasty skinned as the undersides of a Kellogs Poptart..damned albino guy! So damn blindingly white! Like a Yeti! ...Old dude, rocking the beat! Up front!...distracting, a big old white afro like a damned dope smoking 7' tall dandelion!...
But cool as hell once you got to know him...He had some good weed, graciously shared, ready rolled and ready to party! Never knew his real name, but We called him 'Pillsbury'..obviously...thats about it..Never more...I did take my Wife to see Harry Connick in Chicago for his 'Christmas Tour' back a few years ago...yeah...complete waste of time and money there!..$20 just to park? To hear some mumbly marble mouthed mutherhubbard piano player sing 'Jingle Bells' or 'Frosty the Snow-mutherfussin-Man?' Not a free puff on a aisle passed fantoozler or a Little King in sight! Complete Rip off!
Give me old cotton top dope smoking albino Pillsbury and a half pint of Kesslers!
Best concert ever! oh yeah....The Marshal Tucker Band at the Toledo Auditorium was pretty good too ...I remember it was in the Winter, maybe '77 or thereabouts...and a massive blizzard hit...same basic format though...I was drunk as hell of course again, Little Kings and Kesslers....Lots of people got killed, but I for some unexplained reason did not... and am here to bear witness....
Pillsbury was there though...which we thought odd? Maybe he had a season pass? Like those rich folks in Chicago get at the symphony to hear YoYoMa or Harry Connick??....Yeah..come to think about it, music is super expensive and downright dangerous! Best to be avoided altogether!
I got my first speeding ticket with Aerosmiths "Train Kept a Rollin' rendition on the 8track,..some of my buddies paid 18yrs of Child Support on account of 'Dust in the Wind" during or after a Kansas concert..Blue Oyster Cults "Dont fear the Reaper" misled and took out a good buddy of mine...Just saying, music is dangerous and not worth the risk!...
I dodged a bullet more than once! Looking at the ass end of a team of Belgians hauling a hay wagon and playing 'Yankee Doodle' on the harmonica aint so bad comparatively...
Sure both my Belgians (Petey and Bruiser) love ABBA of course!.. I dont mind though, generous portfolio, steady and predictable beat, creative lyrics...plus they both outweigh me by 1000lbs per, so who am I to argue semantics?..ABBA puts them into a comfortable stride cadence and we can go steady allday....Yes, we put Bob Seger or Boston on when we gotta get aggressive and pull stumps, but who doesnt?
Mellencamp?
