THE SHOW I’LL I’LL NEVER FORGET THE SHOW A rite of passage, a defining event, a catalyst of musical and personal MEMORABLE CONCERTGOING EXPERIENCE THEIR MOST 50 WRITERS RELIVE epiphanies—a concert is an experience unlike any other. In The Show I’ll Never Forget, writer Sean Manning has gathered an amazing array of unforgettable concert memories from a veritable THE SHOW A-list of acclaimed novelists, poets, biographers, cultural critics, and songwriters. Their candid, first-person recollections reveal as much about the writers’ lives at the time as they do about the venues where the shows occurred or the artists on stage. I’LL NEVER FORGET Ishmael Reed on Miles Davis ★ SEAN MANNING ★ Luc Sante on Public Image Ltd. ★ Heidi Julavits on Rush ★ Daniel Handler and Andrew Sean Greer on Metric ★ Diana Ossana on Led Zeppelin ★ Maggie Estep on Einstürzende Neubauten ★ Dani Shapiro on Bruce Springsteen ★ Gary Giddins on Titans of the Tenor! ★ Nick Flynn on Mink DeVille ★ Susan Straight on The Funk Festival ★ Rick Moody on The Lounge Lizards Jennifer Egan on Patti Smith ★ , ★ Harvey Pekar on Joe Maneri EDITOR ★ Thurston Moore on Glen Branca, Rudolph Grey, and Wharton Tiers ★ Chuck Klosterman on Prince ★ Sigrid Nunez on Woodstock ★ Jerry Stahl on David Bowie ★ Charles R. Cross on Nirvana ★ Marc Nesbitt on The Beastie Boys And many more . ★ THE SHOW I’LL I’LL THE SHOW NEVER FORGET MEMORABLE CONCERTGOING EXPERIENCE THEIR MOST 50 WRITERS RELIVE No matter where your musical taste falls, these often funny, occasion- SEAN MANNING ally sad, always thought-provoking essays—all written especially for The Show I’ll Never Forget—are sure to connect with anyone who loves, or has ever loved, live music. Sean Manning lives in New York. His writing has appeared in the New York Press, The Brooklyn Rail, and BlackBook. , EDITOR 50 WRITERS RELIVE $16.95 US / £9.9 9 / $20.50 CAN MUSIC/ESSAYS Da Capo Press A Da Capo Original THEIR MOST MEMORABLE A Member of the Perseus Books Group Cover design by Cooley Design Lab www.dacapopress.com CONCERTGOING EXPERIENCE 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page i The Show I’ll Never Forget 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page ii 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page iii The Show I’ll Never Forget 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience Edited by SEAN MANNING DA CAPO PRESS A Member of the Perseus Books Group 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page iv Copyright © 2007 by Sean Manning All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Da Capo Press was aware of a trademark claim, those designations have been printed with initial capital letters. ISBN: 0–306–81508–7 ISBN–13: 978-0-306-81508-9 Printed in the United States of America. Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Da Capo Press is a member of the Perseus Books Group Interior design by Cynthia Young Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.perseusbooks.com Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, or call (800) 255–1514 or (617)252–5298, or e-mail [email protected]. 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page v Contents Introduction 1 R.E.M. at Madison Square Garden New York City, November 4, 2004 SEAN MANNING 1 Miles Davis at The Casablanca 2 Buffalo, New York, September 21, 1955 ISHMAEL REED 9 Jimmy Reed at LuAnn’s 3 Dallas, Texas, April 1958 DAVID RITZ 13 Steve Abbot Benefit Concert at Jordan Junior High School 4 Salt Lake City, Utah, Winter 1961 RON CARLSON 17 The Rolling Stones at The Academy of Music 5 New York City, May 1, 1965 LYNNE TILLMAN 22 The Beatles at Plaza De Toros 6 Madrid, Spain, July 2, 1965 REBECCA BROWN 26 Titans of the Tenor! at Philharmonic Hall 7 New York City, February 19, 1966 GARY GIDDINS 31 James Brown at Boston Garden 8 Boston, April 5, 1968 DAVID GATES 40 v 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page vi VI CONTENTS Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy at The Scene 9 New York City, 1968 GENE SANTORO 45 Woodstock at Max Yasgur’s Farm 10 Bethel, New York, August 15–17, 1969 SIGRID NUNEZ 52 Nina Simone at The Village Gate 11 New York City, Winter 1970 LINDA YABLONSKY 58 Bill Evans at The Jazz Workshop 12 Boston, January 1971 RICHARD BURGIN 69 Led Zeppelin at St. Louis Arena 13 St. Louis, Missouri, May 11, 1973 DIANA OSSANA 74 Three Dog Night at San Diego Sports Arena 14 San Diego, California, Autumn 1974 JOHN HASKELL 79 Television at CBGB 15 New York City, Winter 1975 BRUCE BAUMAN 84 The Sunshine Festival at Anaheim Stadium 16 Anaheim, California, September 28, 1975 KAREN KARBO 89 Queen at The Capital Centre 17 Landover, Maryland, November 29, 1977 TRACY CHEVALIER 94 Mink DeVille at The Paradise 18 Boston, Winter 1978 NICK FLYNN 100 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page vii CONTENTS VII Patti Smith at Winterland 19 San Francisco, May 13, 1978 Or . Boarding House San Francisco, August 1979 JENNIFER EGAN 103 Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden 20 New York City, August 1978 DANI SHAPIRO 109 Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden 21 New York City, December 14, 1978 ELIZABETH CRANE 114 X/Levi & the Rockats at The Whisky 22 Los Angeles, 1979 ARION BERGER 119 The Funk Festival at Los Angeles Coliseum 23 Los Angeles, May 26, 1979 SUSAN STRAIGHT 123 Black Flag at Hong Kong Café 24 Los Angeles, September 2, 1979 JOHN ALBERT 129 The Horslips at The Whitla Hall 25 Belfast, Ireland, April 1980 PAUL MULDOON 135 Public Image Ltd. at The Ritz 26 New York City, May 15, 1981 LUC SANTE 141 The Kinks at Madison Square Garden 27 New York City, October 3, 1981 THOMAS BELLER 147 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page viii VIII CONTENTS Rush at Cumberland County Civic Center 28 Portland, Maine, December 4, 1985 HEIDI JULAVITS 157 The Pogues at Metro 29 Boston, July 2, 1986 ROBERT POLITO 164 The Beastie Boys at The Capital Centre 30 Landover, Maryland, April 5, 1987 MARC NESBITT 172 Redd Kross at The Town Pump 31 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 1987 CARL NEWMAN 177 Bon Jovi at Memorial Coliseum 32 Portland, Oregon, May 8, 1989 JON RAYMOND 183 Van Morrison at The Beacon Theatre 33 New York City, November 30, 1989 ROBERT BURKE WARREN 188 Van Morrison at The Beacon Theatre 34 New York City, November 30, 1989 HOLLY GEORGE-WARREN 195 Clarence Carter at Bobby’s Hideaway 35 Waldo, Florida, January 18, 1990 KEVIN CANTY 200 Nirvana at The Paramount Theatre 36 Seattle, October 31, 1991 CHARLES R. CROSS 205 The Lounge Lizards at Merkin Concert Hall 37 New York City, April 12, 1992 RICK MOODY 210 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page ix CONTENTS IX Katell Keineg at Café Sin-é 38 New York City, February 1993 MIKE ALBO 221 Einstürzende Neubauten at Roseland Ballroom 39 New York City, April 3, 1993 MAGGIE ESTEP 226 Beck at The Fillmore Theatre 40 San Francisco, July 5, 1994 MARC BOJANOWSKI 232 Joe Maneri at Harvey Pekar’s Living Room 41 Cleveland, Ohio, Summer 1997 HARVEY PEKAR 236 The Mekons at The Mercury Lounge 42 New York City, September 12, 1997 LYDIA MILLET 241 Prince at The Fargodome 43 Fargo, North Dakota, December 8, 1997 CHUCK KLOSTERMAN 246 Glen Branca, Rudolph Grey, and Wharton Tiers at The Knitting Factory 44 New York City, 1999 THURSTON MOORE 251 Antony and the Johnsons featuring Lou Reed at PS 122 45 New York City, November 10, 2001 SAMANTHA HUNT 253 David Bowie at The Greek Theatre 46 Los Angeles, April 22, 2004 JERRY STAHL 258 Kevin Spacey at House of Blues 47 Chicago, December 29, 2004 MAX ALLAN COLLINS 263 0306815087_FM.qxd 10/19/06 4:25 PM Page x X CONTENTS The White Stripes at House of Blues 48 Atlantic City, New Jersey, September 28, 2005 ALICE ELLIOTT DARK 275 Metric at Slim’s 49/ San Francisco, November 3, 2005 50 DANIEL HANDLER AND ANDREW SEAN GREER 280 Contributors 291 Acknowledgments 299 Credits 301 0306815087_1.qxd 10/19/06 4:42 PM Page 1 1 Introduction R.E.M. Madison Square Garden New York City November 4, 2004 SEAN MANNING ON SEPTEMBER 9, 1956, sixty million Americans—a then record-setting 82 percent of television viewers—tuned in to watch Elvis Presley’s first per- formance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Ask a hundred baby boomers what, ex- actly, they saw that Sunday night and you’ll understand by the identical- ness of their answers why it’s impossible for a televised concert to approximate being in the crowd. Nevertheless, due in large part to the DVD boom, the proliferation of DIRECTV, and the advent of webcasting, North American live music attendance continues to decline—roughly 3 percent annually1 since 2004—without question, one of the most disas- trous years in industry history.