My Top 10 Live Shows (Pt. 2, # 1-5)

Sorry for the delay in posting. Without further ado, here's my Top 5 live shows...

5) Public Enemy at The Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center, San Francisco, CA, August 19, 2011

Public Enemy is my all-time favorite rap group. When I was in college, frontman Chuck D’s lyrics influenced my left-leaning political and social views much more so than any professor or textbook.

Naturally, I’ve seen them perform a number of times. Sadly, most of those shows sucked. For whatever reason, they could never seem to figure out how to put on a decent concert. Once, on the Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age Tour, they performed without Flavor Flav. He had been arrested the week before, and rather than rescheduling the show, Chuck had someone fill in for him.

What the fuck? Flavor Flav was the greatest Hype Man in rap history. You can’t just replace him with a stand-in.

Anyways, when I saw PE was playing at The Regency here in San Francisco, my expectations were low – but I rationalized that there wasn’t anything better going on that evening anyway, so I recruited Cassie and Kris to help me Fight the Power.

Turns out Chuck, Flav, Griff, and the S1Ws had picked up a few tricks since the last time I saw them.

For one thing, DJ Lord (who had replaced the original DJ, Terminator X back in 1999) treated the crowd to a BOOMING 20-minute pre-show rock and rap set. It ramped up the energy in the room considerably. We were ready to Bring the Noise!

Public Enemy came out afterwards – with a LIVE BACKUP BAND. This was new – and a huge improvement over previous shows where they just rapped over pre-recorded music.

When Chuck finally grabbed the mic, it was on! His vocals and DJ Lord’s beats were blistering. And Flav, with his exaggerated dance moves and various interjections of his trademark, “Yeaaaah boooyyyyeeeee”, was perfect as the comic foil. Say what you will about his reality show career, the guy is a great performer. I think he even tried to make eye contact with every member of the crowd at some point during the show.

They did all of their classic songs. “Bring the Noise”, “Fight the Power”, “Welcome to the Terrordome”, “Don’t Believe the Hype”, “By the Time I Get to Arizona”, “Shut ‘Em Down”, “Can’t Truss It”…and worked the stage – and the crowd – with an ease that comes from a quarter century of experience

Man, for those two hours, Public Enemy was, once again, the most important rap group on the planet.

4) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, August 15, 2014

The first time I saw The Bosstones was in 1997, on the Vans Warped Tour in Los Angeles. My friend, Bridget, was dating a guy that worked for the law firm that did the contracts for all the bands on the tour (or something like that), and he hooked me and my roommates, Big D and Max, up with tickets and VIP/backstage passes.

The show was at an outdoor venue, and it was a beautiful day. We got there right when the gates opened, and made our way to the backstage area. Pennywise was one of the headlining bands, and since they were from nearby Hermosa Beach, and presumably had a lot of friends in attendance, they had set up a few kegs outside of their trailer. It was a nice touch.

I remember The Bosstones had a mid-afternoon set on the main stage. From the backstage area, we were able to just walk up the steps to the side of the stage and hang out there for a few songs. All things considered, that day is a great memory in and of itself.

Fast-forward 20 years. I now live in San Francisco, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are playing at The Fillmore – one of my favorite music venues. Cassie and my buddy, David, got the pleasure of accompanying me to this one.

The 'Tones hadn’t missed a beat since the last time I saw them. Lead singer Dicky Barrett, dressed in his traditional plaid suit, growled as much he sang through a loose set of their biggest hits (“The Impression That I Get”, “Someday I Suppose”, and “The Rascal King”, among others), as well as some fan favorites (“Don’t Worry Desmond Dekker”, “Bad News and Bad Breaks”). In addition to the standard two guitars / bass / drum setup, they also brought a few horn players, as well as a guy (Ben Carr) who’s primary job was basically just to dance on stage with the band – sort of like a white Flavor Flav.

Somehow, it all came together. The performance was pure energy. More importantly – it was fun. I think a lot of bands sometimes forget that in the proper context, rock and roll doesn’t have to take itself too seriously. Every year around Christmas, The Bosstones do their Hometown Throwdown – a series of back-to-back-to-back shows in their hometown of Boston. It’s been a bucket list item of mine to get to that party for a long time.

Anyone wanna go this year?

3) Social Distortion at Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH, January 31, 1997

I’ve seen Social Distortion probably half a dozen times. They’re consistent. Probably too consistent, to be honest, because even though the setlists vary, the formula remains the same. Some older tunes, some new tunes, a shout out to the long-time fans, two real old tunes (“Mommy’s Little Monster” and “Another State of Mind”), and then a wrap-up with some crowd favorites. In between, lead singer Mike Ness does his damnedest to make a punk rock show still seem dangerous, with songs about drinking, fighting, cars, and generally just being from the wrong side of the tracks. Truth be told though, the ticket prices are usually so high that anyone that still lives that lifestyle likely wouldn’t be able to afford the concert anyway.

What made this particular show so memorable was what happened afterwards. I went with Sarah, a friend of mine that I had a light-to-moderate crush on. Sarah was blonde, listened to punk rock, and tended bar – which essentially covered all my criterion back then. We met up with my buddy Steve-O beforehand at Arlin's Cafe in Clifton, who had made the trip down from Columbus earlier that day, and was at the bar working on his own Top 50 Bands/Artists of All-Time list (which inexplicably had Jeff Lynne from the Electric Light Orchestra in the Top 5).

At any rate, from what I remember, the show was fine. Nothing too special, but enjoyable. Afterwards, Sarah and I went to the cocktail lounge at the Vernon Manor hotel, because I knew that a lot of bands stayed there when they were in town. It was just our luck that as soon as we walked in we ran in to guitar player Dennis Dannell (who sadly passed away a few years later from a brain aneurysm).

Man, he was as cool as they come. I asked him if I could buy him a drink, and he declined – but said he’d be happy to stay and hang out with us for a little bit, since the tour bus wasn’t leaving just yet. We chatted a bit about the tour, then said goodbyes. As we headed back to the car, we saw Mike Ness in the hotel lobby.

Two things I noticed right away. A) He looked a lot older in person that he did onstage, and B) Sarah looked like she was ready to hop on the tour bus with him.

I approached him, and told him we really enjoyed the show. He politely thanked me. We made a little small talk, then he nodded towards Sarah who was standing a few feet away and asked if she was “my girl”.

“Yeah,” I lied.

“Nice,” He nodded again, as he looked her up and down. “Thanks for coming to the show,” he told her.

The he winked at me, and walked out of the lobby towards the tour bus.

Sarah was fuming. As soon as Mike was out of earshot, she spat, “Why did you say I was your girl?”

“I dunno”.

“You asshole”.

Without another word, we walked to my car. I tried to make conversation on the way back to her place, but she wasn’t having it. Didn’t even say goodbye when I dropped her off.

I didn’t care. Mike Ness thought I was cool.

I lit a cigarette, smiled, and put the car in drive.

2) Joey Ramone at Coney Island High, New York, NY, September 6, 1997

So twenty or so years ago, I worked for a small record label in LA. The pay was next to nothing, but they gave me these cool looking business cards that usually impressed anyone I showed them too. Another perk was that they sent me and my supervisor, Georgia, to New York City for the College Music Journal Music Marathon, or just CMJ, as those of us “in the biz” called it.

CMJ was a weeklong schedule of workshops and panel discussions during the day, and live bands at various clubs throughout the city in the evening. A single badge got you into everything for free. The business goal, on my end, was to network with as many college DJs as I could, so that when I would later call on them to play the records we released, they would “chart” them (include them on the Top Ten list that they submitted to the College Music Journal trade publication, the CMJ New Music Report, on a weekly basis).

It was a dream assignment. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid for it. Shit, I even got to expense my bar tabs.

Somehow, I got wind of a show Joey Ramone was doing for his birthday at the iconic Coney Island High on St. Marks Place in the East Village. Now in terms of punk rock royalty, Joey Ramone was the king. A true legend. I had seen The Ramones live twice before – once with Social Distortion and once on the Lollapalooza tour, but this was an opportunity to see him perform in his hometown, in a small and intimate venue.

We got to Coney Island High around midnight. The show wasn’t officially part of the CMJ Festival, so the badge didn’t work…and it was sold out – but I told the doorman that Georgia and I were with Ronnie Spector’s (one of the opening acts) record label. Amazingly, it worked, and he ushered us in.

We had missed all of the opening acts (including Ronnie Spector), but we got there just in time to see Joey take the stage. Iconic is kind of an overused word, but it’s apropos in this case. Joey stood god-like – about 6’6, with long, stringy hair, sunglasses, a tee-shirt, and blue jeans.

I pushed my way right up in front of the stage. There was only one guy in front of me. The problem was, about 5 minutes in, he took his shirt off started waving it over his head with his right hand. No way I was gonna be five feet from a punk rock legend and have my vision obscured by the one douchebag in front of me.

It was too loud to talk, so I basically just grabbed his arm and pulled it down. I guess he thought this was a game or something, since he put it right back up. I then grabbed it again and pinned it against his side for a good five seconds. Hand to God, I was ready to get into a fight over this. I guess he got the point and put his shirt back on, and we both enjoyed the rest of the set.

The setlist? Fuck if I remember. If you’ve ever seen the Ramones live, you know that each song is about two minutes long, and played one after the other, with a quick 1..2…3…4 in between. I vaguely recall him playing Chinese Rocks and Blitzkrieg Bop (and screaming, “Hey ho, let’s go” at the top of my lungs about a million times). I also remember some guy (who I later found out was Wayne Kramer of the MC 5) hopping on stage with him to do a cover of “Kick Out the Jams”….and Joey having to sing the lyrics off of a sheet of paper.

After the show, Georgia and I met up outside the venue. We were both sweaty and exhausted. I was so hoarse I could hardly even talk. But man, you couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces.

1) Michael Franti, Rombello Crusie - Stardust Lounge Show, 2013

I first got hip to Michael Franti back in college through his stuff with the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and then later on, Spearhead, but had quickly forgotten about him. Then about 15 years ago, I read an article on artists writing songs protesting the Iraq War. I downloaded, “Bomb the World”….and discovered one of the poignant songs I ever heard.

We can chase down all our enemies

Bring them to their knees

We can bomb the world to pieces

But we can't bomb it into peace

We may even find a solution

To hunger and disease

We can bomb the world to pieces

But we can't bomb it into peace

Since then, I’ve probably seem him and Spearhead about two dozen or so times. I’ve seen them play for 20,000+ people at the Bottlerock Music Festival in Napa, and for less than a hundred fans at a record store in Berkeley. I even got a chance to meet him after my buddy Jason hooked me up with some backstage passes for the show at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY in 2010.

Franti’s live show is the best I’ve ever seen. Whether it’s a simple acoustic tune or a rocking singalong, I’ve never seen anyone engage a crowd the way he does. He literally runs and plays his guitar all over the venue – from the stage, into the aisles, up to the cheap seats, and back to the stage again. The entire band gives 110% every night.

Along those lines, The Rombello Music Cruise ranks overall as one of my all-time favorite music / vacation experiences. Four days at sea with Michael Franti + Spearhead and other great artists like Trevor Hall, Kristy Lee, Eric Erdman, G. Love and Special Sauce, Jason Isbell, Rebelution, Tribal Seeds, Bad Rabbits, Ozomotli, and a bunch of other ones I know I’m forgetting. We met so many cool people – both artists and fans – on that cruise. I’m still in contact with many of them.

The highlight, for me – and my best concert experience of all time – was the show in the Stardust Lounge on the third night.

For whatever reason, all the magic that Franti’s music has brought to me over the years seemed to have been bottled up and then released into that set. Every song was an anthem. It was as if I curated the setlist myself with the songs that got me through some tough times (“I Know I’m Not Alone”, “Hey, Hey, Hey”) as well as the tunes that I listen to celebrate life (“I’m Alive”, “Anytime” , “Closer to You”). Franti played them all.

Much to my wife’s chagrin, I danced and sang my ass off, lol.

See, for people like me – shows like this are like air. We need it to exist. And when a band can command a venue and use words and music as a thread to connect everyone in the place – it crosses over from being a performance, to being an experience that transcends the physical boundaries of the moment.

It’s in that moment that I truly feel at peace with the world, and myself.

Lyrics from the song, “11:59” kind of sum it all up:

One love, one blood

One heart, one soul and

One drum and only one rhythm

One tribe and all of us singing

It's eleven fifty-nine and fifty-nine seconds

If I'm gonna die tonight I want heaven

Ay, ay

With you

**

While coming up with my Top 10 list, I started out with about 50 shows, and just kind of whittled them down, bit by bit. That being said, I do have some Honorable Mentions that didn’t make my Top Ten, but were still pretty mind-blowing. In no particular order:

LL Cool J at The Ohio Center, Columbus, OH (1987)

John Cougar Mellencamp at Batelle Hall, Columbus, OH (1987), and then again at The Paramount, Oakland, CA (2019)

Prince at Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA (2011)

Frank Turner at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Fishbone/Kid Rock at Ripley’s, Cincinnati, OH (1998)

Rancid at The Warfield, San Francisco (2016)

Lenny Kravitz at The Fox, Oakland, CA (2011)

Lou Reed at The Palace Theater, Columbus, OH (1989)

Craig Finn & The Uptown Controllers, The Chapel, San Francisco (2019)

Kanye West at The Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA (2008) and

Poison at Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH (every summer from 2000-2010).

If you made it this far, thanks for reading…and post some of your memorable shows in the comments!