The Kinks & King Sunny Ade, Greek Theater Los Angeles, CA, Summer 1987 or 88?

Well it's been awhile since my last post and there have been a couple of reasons why.  First of all, I've been busy.  Secondly, this show I'm writing about is one of the one's I don't have a ticket stub for and I haven't been able to even find a date for it on the internet.  Did it really happen? Yes...I know it happened.

It's somehow appropriate that I can't find any good details on The Kinks tour dates.  They are one of the more overlooked of the great British Invasion bands.  I can't imagine that any band sounded heavier than The Kinks when they released songs like "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of The Night" back in 1964.  Those guitar riffs are CLASSIC!  Yes the band has been overlooked and I did my part back in my youth.  When I was in 3rd grade our neighbors across the street from us in Fridley, MN were getting rid of some of their old albums.  I took a couple of Kinks records like "Face to Face" pictured above, Moby Grape, and I believe some Dave Clark Five.  The only one that I really listened to was a Paul Revere and the Raiders record because for some reason I loved a song of theirs that I heard on AM radio back in the day...it was called Indian Reservation.  So what did I do with these classic Kinks albums?  I ended up trading them in for something in the late 70's....might have been Ted Nugent Double Live Gonzo, may have been Rush "All The World's A Stage". Whatever it was it was a bad trade.

A couple of years later I got into the band hearing the Low Budget album.  Then when I started to hear more of their old stuff I realized the mistake I had made. 

I believe the reason I really wanted to see this show was because of the unique billing...the opening act was King Sunny Ade and his African Beats.  Now I can't find any documentation that this actually happened.  I do know I saw both bands at the Greek and I believe it was together. I started listening to Kings Sunny Ade in college when I happened to pick up a record of his called Aura.  It's a great record and the highlight is this track called Ase which features Stevie Wonder playing harmonica.  I still need to get a CD copy of this record.

So I do remember that King Sunny Ade and his very large band were great.  Very colorful African clothing, dancers and drums, drums, drums.  Actually it was the Talking Drum players that impressed me the most.  I love percussion and this performance was a real treat.

As for The Kinks, they sounded awesome.  They played plenty of their classics.  I really wasn't buying Kinks records at the time...I think "Come Dancing" sort of turned me off on their new stuff.  I did find one setlist from a show in 1987 and it looks pretty close to what I remember.  I remember "Living On A Thin Line" as a stand out from the show along with faves like Lola, All Day and You Really Got Me.  I'm pretty sure they also played "Celluloid Heroes" which was perfectly appropriate since they were playing in LA.  Great song by the way.

One reason I believe it happened in the Summer of 87 or 88 was that I had to drive home to Santa Barbara after the show.  I was driving a Mazda RX-7 at the time and I remember enjoying the drive along the rincon with my future wife.  Beautiful night, the sunroof popped off.  Nice! 

If anyone happens to read this and can confirm that this show actually happened I would greatly appreciate it!

Here's that Paul Revere & The Raiders song that I was crazy about for some reason.

Grateful Dead, Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA 6-13-87 & Dylan & The Dead, Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA 7-26-87

My first Grateful Dead show in California took place at the Ventura County Fairgrounds which is right on the coast. This was my third GD show.

There are a couple of things that I remember about this show and none of them are great memories. First of all I remember being cold at some point...probably a case of the coastal clouds not burning off and it was colder than I was prepared for. I also remember walking behind the sound board during the "Space" part of the show and my ears were killing me...was not digging Space.

I also remember seeing some big guy wearing a Celtics jacket dancing around on the side of the stage. I'm pretty sure that it was Bill Walton since he was on the Celtics team that LOST to the Lakers in the Finals that year.

The show was alright but wasn't one of my favorites. Of course a Dead show isn't always about the music. The show around the show was quite entertaining...lots of dancing and freaky people having a great time.

One month later I saw the Dead perform with Bob Dylan at Anaheim Stadium. This was the first time my soon to be wife saw the Grateful Dead, and she really enjoyed the show around the show. We had seats pretty close to the field so we could watch the crowd without getting hurt...which was fine with my wife. It was a very hot day.

My wife enjoyed the experience but this wasn't a good introduction to the Dead. Nothing remarkable about the set and the Dylan and the Dead portion of the show was pretty disappointing. No chemistry between Dylan and the Band...he looked like he didn't want to be there. Too bad. Other people had bad memories of this show too.

Hey it wasn't all bad...here's the opening from the Anaheim show

What Would Gilligan Do?

My cousin Eric posted his Top 10 Albums of All-Time on Facebook and challenged myself and others to come up with our own.  So here is my 10...sort of my Desert Island Disc collection. This is much harder that sharing 25 random things about myself because this could possibly be a decision I have to live with for the rest of my life.  

I'm not going to put these in any numerical order because it's hard enough for me to choose just 10...so here they are:

Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones (1971)

My favorite Stones album offers a little bit of everything...Rock, Country, Blues, Jazz. Brown Sugar, Sway, Wild Horses, Can't You Hear Me Knockin', Bitch, Dead Flowers, and Moonlight Mile.  Classic! 

The White Album by The Beatles (1968)

I had a hard time trying to figure out which Beatles record to choose.  I love Abbey Road but after listening to a 40th Anniversary Special on The White Album I was reminded what a great record it is.  It's a double album so you also have the bonus of quantity.  Dear Prudence, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, I'm So Tired, Back in The USSR and many more make this my choice.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John (1973)

I loved this album when I was a kid and continue to love it now.  I remember the first time I saw it at someone's house, it too is a double album and it opened up to display the lyrics and song titles which had artwork connected to every track.  I was a big Elton John fan up to Captain Fantastic...after that I didn't follow him too closely.  Once again I love the variety this record offers...from the opening epic Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding  to rockers like All The Young Girls Love Alice and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting and ballads like Candle In The Wind and Harmony...there's even some country with Social Disease. 

   

Dark Side of The Moon by Pink Floyd (1973)

This record takes you on a journey and you don't have to be high as a kite to take the trip.  It may have been better to listen to this on vinyl because finishing Side 1 with The Great Gig In The Sky gives you some time to soak it all in before the cash register starts cranking up and Money begins.  I had a High School English class where our teacher asked us to bring in a song about war.  I used "Us and Them" and the teacher said, "I'm a Pink Floyd fan and I didn't even realize what it was about.  Our High School yearbook had a collage of pictures put together with the lyrics of "Eclipse" scattered throughout the pictures.  This album has been a part of my life for a long time!  

Kiko by Los Lobos (1992)

I had already been a Los Lobos fan by the time this record came out.  I remember being at Rhino Records in Westwood on my lunch break when they started playing this album in the store.  It opens up with "Dream In Blue" and after hearing it I knew I had to buy it immediately. It's funny but when you put the CD into iTunes it is labeled as Country. I don't think fans of that genre would agree with that.  This record has a definite swampy, voodoo vibe to it. "Angels With Dirty Faces"  and "When The Circus Comes to Town" along with the opener are my favorites...but the entire record is awesome. David Hildago is The Man!  

Achtung Baby by U2  (1991)

I love The Joshua Tree album but Achtung Baby has a darker edge to it which I prefer for some reason.  I remember when I first heard the opening track I was thinking...what the hell? It just sounded so different from where the band had left off, and I really respected them for taking chances like that.  But more than appreciating this record because it was different, there are alot of great songs here.  "Even Better Than The Real Thing", "One", "Mysterious Ways" and "Who's Going To Ride Your Wild Horses" were the ones that got the airplay, but songs like So Cruel, Ultraviolet (Light My Way) and the closing "Love Is Blindness" help make this one of my favorites. 

Automatic For The People by R.E.M. (1992)

I had been a fan of R.E.M. from the start and like U2 appreciated the fact that they weren't content to keep producing the same music over and over.  This is my favorite album of theirs. Drive, Everybody Hurts, Man On The Moon, Nightswimming, Sweetness Follows...great album.

Legend by Bob Marley (1984)

The purists will say that you can't put a Greatest Hits album in your Desert Island Discs...well I guess I'm not a purist.  I picked this one for a change of pace and a smile on my face.  I didn't own any of his records prior to owning this one.  I first remember hearing of Bob Marley from one of my friends in Canada who had the "Babylon By Bus" album.  He would come struttin' around sing "Jammin".   There was a big Jamaican population in the area where I lived and looking back I'm surprised I wasn't exposed to more reggae music.  "Could You Be Loved", "Redemption Song", "Get Up Stand Up"...I wish I could have seen him play live.

Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

I have some rockin' music in my Top 10 but I needed to add something that really can shake your foundation.  It's a hard to choose the one Zeppelin album to take with you but this one has a little of everything. "When The Levee Breaks" is a bulldozer of a song, "Going To California" is beautiful, "The Battle of Evermore" is mystical and "Black Dog" lets you know what their intentions are right away, "Hey Hey Mama like the way you move, going to make you sweat going to make you groove".   Oh yeah...Stairway to Heaven is on this album too.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1969)

Led Zeppelin  may be considered the heaviest on my list but this one is close.  Neil Young didn't have John Bonham and John Paul Jones as his rhythm section but his guitar sound is loud and raw and I love it.  The album opens with a bang with "Cinnamon Girl", then gets a little country with the title track and then folksy "Round & Round".  The pattern almost repeats itself with the next 3 songs starting with "Down By The River".  "Cowgirl In the Sand" closes it all out with 10:30 of magic...at least it is for me.  Neil released a 1968 show from the Fillmore East a couple of years ago that has a 16 minute version of Cowgirl...it's 6 minutes more magical than the version on this album.

If My Mind Changes Here's The Next 10: 

Who's Next by The Who

In Rainbows by Radiohead

Are You Experienced by Jimi Hendrix

Aladdin Sane by David Bowie

American Beauty by The Grateful Dead

A Ghost Is Born by Wilco

Howl by Black Rebel Motorcyle Club

Remain In Light by The Talking Heads

Innervisions by Stevie Wonder

Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

U2, Los Angeles Sports Arena, 4-17-1987 and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum November 1987

I saw U2 twice in 1987 and there will be several more U2 postings to come. 

The first time was on the first leg of The Joshua Tree tour.  The April 17th show was the first of a 5 night stand at the LA Sports Arena.  A band couldn't play a 5 night stand at The Forum at that time of year because the Lakers would be still playing basketball in the playoffs. But since the Sports Arena was the home of the LA Clippers....it was available.

By this time U2 was already big...but they really blew up on this tour!  They opened the show with "Where The Streets Have No Name" which is one of my all-time favorites from any band. It's a great song on their album but it rises to another level when they play it live.  I think you can say that about any U2 song. They played 7 tracks from The Joshua Tree album during the show but I recall being disappointed that they didn't play "Red Hill Mining Town" which was one of my favorites. 

One song they did play was "Bullet The Blue Sky" and it has consistently been one of my favorite songs during any U2 show.  The Edge's guitar work on that track is mind-blowing!

When I saw U2 previously it was part of the "Conspiracy of Hope" tour for Amnesty International and they shared the stage with many acts.  Back then I could tell they were a great act to see live, but after seeing them perform an entire show I was really sold....this was something special.

The band returned to LA in November, I can't find the ticket stub to the show but I know I was there.  The Pretenders opened up for them which was a great bonus!  The song selection for U2 wasn't much different than the April show, but playing at The Coliseum definitely made it more of an event.

One last thought regarding the band at this time.  I loved the Anton Corbijn photography that appeared on the album.  Someone also gave me a giant poster from this tour with one of his photos.  I had lived in California for a little over two years by this time and I loved the diversity of the southwest scenery.  From the desert to the mountains to the beaches...you can't beat it. Joshua Tree is a beautiful place...my wife and I have camped out there.  I loved driving out to the desert listening to this album.  

General Public, Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA 12-16-86

Santa Barbara was such a great place to live.  It's absolutely beautiful and has some great venues to see live music.  The Arlington Theatre and the Santa Barbara County Bowl cover both your indoor and outdoor options very nicely.

I had been to the Arlington once before to see Jay Leno but this was the only music show I saw there.  My wife (girlfriend at the time) was a General Public fan and that's how we ended up at the show.  I didn't have any of their records and was familiar with some of their songs from the radio.  I don't know what I was expecting but the show was pretty good....pleasantly surprised was how I would describe it.  "Tenderness" is a great pop song and they played English Beat tracks like "Mirror In The Bathroom" and "Save It For Later" which are a couple of my favorites.

General Public performs on MTV New Years show

The Smithereens, Oscar's Nightclub, Santa Barbara, CA 11-20-1986

Here’s a band that I thought produced a few great power pop songs...but they never really made it.

The Smithereens first album had two songs that I played the hell out of, Blood and Roses and Behind The Wall of Sleep....the latter always seems like a lost nugget whenever I hear it. Some people criticized the band for ripping off too many of their influences but in my opinion a good song is a good song and when your influences are the Beatles, Stones, the Who and others, it's worth checking out.

The show was at Oscars in Santa Barbara. The band is from New Jersey and by sheer coincidence one of my high school friends from NJ was visiting. I don’t know if he was expecting to hear Bruce Springsteen or Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, but I think he was pleasantly surprised by what he heard. It was a good show. The guys looked like playing in a club or a garage was their natural habitat...maybe that's why they never made it to the next level and that's a shame.

It’s funny, other than enjoying their music I think the lead singer influenced my facial hair style. He was the first guy I remember either sporting either a gautee or a soul patch. Eventually I made the move from pornstache to gautee and then to pornstache with soul patch which I wore proudly until just recently. I think I need to grow it back.


Behind The Wall of Sleep from British tv show The Tube in 1987...Great Song!

David Sanborn, Universal Amphitheater, Hollywood, CA 11-13-1986 & Hassan Hakmoun, Some club in West Hollywood, CA around 1993

This post is going to take care of two shows, David Sanborn at the Universal Amphitheater and Hassan Hakmoun at some club in West Hollywood around 1993.  The reason I'm combining the two is because David Sanborn was the reason I wanted to see Hassan Hakmoun.

I went to go see David Sanborn with my brother who is a sax player himself.  I had heard Sanborn's solo work but I was a fan of his for other reasons as well.  First of all he became a fixture on the David Letterman show playing with the band quite often.  I was a huge fan of the Letterman show back then and always enjoyed when David would sit in with the band.  The other reason I was a Sanborn fan was his involvement with the show Night Music.  Night Music was a fantastic music show that aired Sunday nights on NBC...like starting at midnight or something.  It was on late!  Anyway he had some great music guests, amazing variety.  I can't think of a better music show that's been on TV in my lifetime.  Austin City Limits is great, but the Night Music format really offered some interesting lineups.

So that leads me to Hassan Hakmoun.  On one of the Night Music shows Sanborn introduced this band called Zahar who played "Morrocan-roll".  The performance blew me away and I searched for their music for several years.  Finally Peter Gabriel featured Hassan Hakmoun and Zahar on one of his Real Music releases and I was able to figure out who the guy was who played this crazy instrument called the Sintir.  So I noticed he was playing at a club in West Hollywood and my wife and I went to check it out.  We danced and we tranced....great show.

As for the Sanborn show...it was good too.  Some of his music borders on being boring...something you would hear on The Wave.  But his uptempo pieces can groove and he had some great musicians playing with him...especially Marcus Miller on bass.  David Sanborn seems like a very cool cat.

David Sanborn & Bootsy Collins on Night Music playing Healing Power


Hassan Hakmoun & Zahar on Night Music


Sanborn gets shot by Paul Schaefer on Late Night with David Letterman 1986

INXS, Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA 8-29-86

Alright...I do recall going to this show and I was interested enough in the band that I would have tried to get a ticket.  Just don't ask me what songs they played.

I started listening to INXS in college and although I didn't own any of their records prior to this show...I liked their music.  "The Original Sin" was the first song I remember taking a liking to and "Don't Change" was another.  My next door neighbor at one of the places I lived at in college would occasionally DJ at a club and he had some 12" mixes that I listened to.

I can't tell you any details other than remembering that it was a fun show.  They were touring to promote "Listen Like Thieves".  Before starting to write about this I was guessing that they were supporting the KICK record, but that didn't come out until the following year.  

My wife and I went to this show and then almost 20 years later watched the band choose a new lead singer on the reality tv show Rock Star.  It was fun to remember how many great songs they had, but without Michael Hutchence it wouldn't be the same.  

 

Live from 1987

Eurythmics, Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA 7-20-86

Ladies & Gentleman, please fasten your seatbelts.  Our trip down memory lane is about to hit some more turbulence.

So when I first looked at this ticket stub I thought to myself...I've seen the Eurythmics twice?  I think I wrote that about Bob Dylan on the last post.  At least with Dylan it was a concert with many artists on the bill..this was one band!

I did like some of their music at the time, but I didn't own any of their records.  I sort of grew to appreciate the band...especially Annie Lennox who is one of my favorite singers.  But I don't think I was into them enough to buy tickets for their show.  When I saw them years later I received the tickets for free....maybe this was a freebie too?  My wife isn't happy that I have little recollection of the first couple of shows we saw together.

So this will be a quick post...was it a good show?  I don't recall.  I was living in Santa Barbara at the time...maybe there was something in the air there?  I seem to remember that Reagan was losing his memory around the same time.

I found a clip from a show the month before in LA and after watching it seemed to vaguely recall seeing the band around that time.  

I Love You (like a ball & chain) live

A Conspiracy of Hope, The Fabulous Forum, Los Angeles 6-6-1986

I wrote down the names of the acts that played at this show on the back of the ticket stub and it's a good thing I did because over 20 years later I'm looking at it saying to myself...Bob Dylan with Tom Petty....really?

This show supporting Amnesty International was one of 6 shows with an amazing lineup of talent.  On this night were U2, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Bob Dylan & Tom Petty, Lou Reed, Bryan Adams, Jackson Browne, Bob Geldof & Dave Stewart, The Neville Brothers and Joan Baez.  If you had asked me to name the bands without looking at the back of my stub I would have answered U2, Peter Gabriel, Sting & The Neville Brothers.  Maybe this marks a turning point in my memory recall?  I had recently thought that the only other time I had seen Dylan was at Staples Center...oops!

Dylan performing License To Kill 6-6-86 at The Forum
 

The two acts that stand out the most here were U2 and Peter Gabriel.  This U2 appearance was before The Joshua Tree had come out.  I was anxious to see them after watching them on MTV performing at Live Aid and the show at Red Rocks.  They became one of my all-time favorite bands. There will be several more U2 entries to follow so I'll save my worshipping of The Edge for a later time.

U2 performing Maggie's Farm/Cold Turkey at the final show of the Amnesty tour 

I started listening to Peter Gabriel when Games Without Frontiers came out.  I can still remember listening to that song in my car in New Jersey and looking at the driver behind me whistling along...we were both tuned to the same radio station (probably WPLJ at the time). Anyway Gabriel is a great showman and I became a big fan of his music too.

Peter Gabriel performing San Jacinto on the last stop of the tour

The other band that registered that night was The Neville Brothers.  Their "Yellow Moon" record is a favorite of mine but I don't think it was released by the time I saw them.  I suppose I just really enjoyed their playing.  I do remember being impressed that a big guy like Aaron Neville could have such a sweet voice.

X, Oscar's, Santa Barbara, CA 4-15-1986

I'll always remember my first mosh pit show. Actually I didn't jump in, I'm more of an observer than a participant.

I started listening to X in the Early 80's and I think MTV was where I first heard and saw them. The video I remember seeing was for True Love Pt. 2 and I really liked the song. I went out and picked up the record "More Fun in the New World" and have been a fan ever since.


Video for True Love Pt.2

My first full-time job after college brought me to Santa Barbara, CA and I often wish I was still living there. There was a nightclub called Oscar's that was the venue where a lot of bands would play when they came to town. It was a small club, very intimate place to see someone play.

The lineup for X at the time wasn't the original, Dave Alvin was playing guitar with them. I love Billy Zoom but Dave Alvin was a great replacement. This was a great show. As I discovered when I started listening to X, labeling them as a Punk band was too limiting. X is a great rock band and if they weren't labeled as a punk band they probably would have received more airplay on the radio. There's a great line of theirs in the song "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" that says "Will the last American band to be played on the radio bring the flag". There were definitely some bands from that period that were under appreciated and X was one of them. They had a powerful sound live, John Doe's bass and DJ Bonebrake on drums were a great rhythym section.

I saw X again later opening up for Pearl Jam at The Forum. It was cool because Billy Zoom had reunited with the band but this performance in Santa Barbara will always be the one I remember most fondly. I should have jumped into the mosh pit while I was there.



X performing in LA in 2004...still sounding strong

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles 9-26-85

Many of my memories of Los Angeles prior to moving here came from watching sporting events on tv. I knew of Dodgers Stadium from watching the Yankees and the Dodgers in the World Series. The Forum was where the Lakers ran the Sixers and Celtics off of the court. The Los Angeles Coliseum was where I had seen Super Bowls, the Rams and Anthony Davis and USC destroying Notre Dame. Now I would get a chance to see The Coliseum for myself but not for a sporting event...for my second Bruce Springsteen show.

It had been 10 months since I had seen Springsteen play in Kansas City. The Coliseum held more than 4 times as many people as Kemper Arena. My brother and I were sitting right in the middle of it...probably around the 50 yard line with seats on the field. I forget whether it was prior to the show or during a break but the crowd started doing the wave...the energy from the audience was amazing!

Springsteen was playing 4 shows at The Coliseum...yes he was The Boss back then. It's weird because searching for the setlist of this show I can't find any that matches the date on my ticket? Well I was there for one of the shows...not sure what's up with the date? The concert was awesome. His setlist was similar to what he played in Kansas City, but the performance seemed to be rise to a different level...probably to try and match the size and energy of the stadium. I remember thinking while I was there that it must be quite a head trip to be on stage and have 90,000 people singing along to your songs.

It was quite a night. I remember there was a full moon that was rising over the famous Coliseum peristyle. You couldn't script it any better.

Tal Farlow, Jazz Club on Jersey Shore, Early 80's

Yesterday was my father's birthday and it struck me that I should add one of the concerts that I attended with him.

As I was growing up my Dad shared his love of music with my brother and I.  Sunday mornings we would awaken to the sounds of either classical, jazz, folk or show tunes.  The Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack, Bolero, Beethoven, The Weavers were some of his favorites to play.  My Mom gave him a set of drums for Christmas one year.  There's a great picture of Dad playing drums when he was in High School....Jazzbo was his nickname back then.  Dad introduced me to Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, drum battle records between Buddy Rich and Max Roach and more.  My appreciation of listening to the musicians making the music is definitely influenced by my father.  

When we lived outside of Toronto we went to a park called Ontario Place for free concerts in the summer. Some of the shows I remember seeing were Stan Kenton, Chuck Mangione, maybe Woody Herman?  But when I was older Dad took me with him to a jazz club on the Jersey Shore to see one of his favorites, Tal Farlow.

It was how you might imagine a stereotypical jazz club, dimly lit, small with people sitting at the tables repectively listening to the music.  We were sitting pretty close to the stage where Tal and his trio were playing.  For a guy with such big hands he had a very light touch on the guitar.  During one of the breaks he talked to Dad and I for a few minutes.  Nice guy.  That kind of intimacy between a performer and audience is what's so cool about going to jazz clubs.

So Happy Birthday Dad...thanks for sharing your love of music with me.  I'm going to try and do the same with my kids.

 

Tal Farlow performing "Misty", one of my Dad's favorites



Tal Farlow and Red Norvo - Fascinating Rhythym

Dire Straits, Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA September 1985

Well here's another show I can't find the ticket stub for...but I do remember seeing Dire Straits back in 1985 at The Greek Theater.  One website I saw mentioned that this was a 4 night stand at The Greek.

I was a fan of the band from their debut record back in the late 70's.  Their first album is still one of my all-time favorites.  I'm sure I heard Sultans of Swing first but there are so many great songs on that album...and it sounded so clean.  Making Movies is my second favorite Dire Straits record. 

Dire Straits were huge in 1985.  The album Brothers in Arms featured several hits including the MTV classic "Money for Nothing" which featured Sting's famous "I want my MTV" line.   The record wasn't my favorite but I was anxious to see the band play live.  It was definitely worth it, Mark Knopfler is an amazing guitarist and they played a great set of songs.   

One of my favorite songs: Water of Love from a performance in Paris 1978



Money for Nothing with Sting at Live Aid 1985

Sting, Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA, August 1985

In 1985 my family moved from NJ to Southern California. After finishing up college in Missouri I headed for The Golden State and it has been my home ever since. I don't have the ticket stub for my first show out here but I remember that it was Sting at The Greek Theater. I'm a big fan of the venue and it still is one of my favorite places to see a show in Los Angeles.  I found a website that showed he played 5 nights at the Greek....I was there for one of them.

This would be my third time seeing Sting in concert, the first as a solo artist. He was touring with his new band made up of jazz musicians. My Dad is a big jazz fan and I grew up with an appreciation of the music. I went to the show with my brother who also loves jazz and plays tenor sax.

Sting was supporting The Dream of The Blue Turtles record. I liked the album but hearing it performed live was much better. His band was great, I especially enjoyed listening to the late Kenny Kirkland on piano and Branford Marsalis on sax. I had the opportunity to meet Branford several years later at the taping of a TV show I was working on...very cool dude.

The best songs performed at the show weren't from Sting's solo record, it was their version of songs by The Police.  "Driven To Tears", "When The World Is Running Down..." and "Bring On The Night" were to put it mildly....Smokin'.

Driven To Tears from the movie Bring On The Night