Review:

I had picked up a copy of Back To The Light about a month earlier at CD Cellar, and had played it just about every day since. It’s such an amazing album, and proved that Brian could have been lead vocalist on more thatn just a handful of Queen songs. Anyway, I got a call from a friend at Expulsion that he was playing a free show at Hammerjacks on a day off from opening for Guns N’ Roses. The show was incredible, opening with the first two songs of the album, sprinkling in Queen classics (like “’39”!) and introducing me to a Rainbow classic (touring drummer Cozy Powell was in that band when they released “Since You Been Gone”). A super long version of “Resurrection” with a drum solo and the end of “Bohemian Rhapsody” would tease how Brian would later come out during the We Will Rock You musical. And “Love Of My Life” would prove to be the blueprint of every Queen tour since, just a singalong with Brian and the audience. I could say more, but here’s an account from one of the friends I went with.

The Brian May Band:

Setlist:

Cover art:

Program:

Information:

Information
Stream

Review:

I remember buying their second CD (Pornograffitti) in a long box from a record store in Fair Oaks Mall because of their two singles, and just falling in love with it, front to back. By the time III Sides To Every Story came out, I was ready for them to go to the next level, and they did, although many other people didn’t. I was so excited about this show I bought two tix, but couldn’t give the other away (and learned a lesson about buying extra tickets). I was disappointed to learn my ticket was in the very last row on the floor at Constitution Hall, but it was an amazing show, horn sections and extravagant solos included. While I don’t have the setlist, I did get the video of them at Baltimore Opera House the previous night a couple months later, and the setlist is pretty close if not exact.

Ticket stub:

Program:

Saigon Kick:

Setlist:

Extreme:

N/A

Information:

(ok, this isn’t the DC show – it’s the night before in Baltimore)
Information
Stream

Review:

I drove down on a Friday because I’d seen these guys on MTV (we’d finally gotten cable at my house). Too bad due to traffic on 95 I missed the opener: Gin Blossoms (made up for it later).

Ticket stub:

Toad The Wet Sprocket:

Setlist:

N/A

Review:

The first and last time I got in the pit. There was a lot of build up to this, the first show of the Metallica/Guns N’ Roses stadium tour with MTV News broadcasting live outside. My buddy Eric was there, and we got down pretty close to the front for Faith No More’s set. There was a lot of pressure from the back, but we hung on until the first song of Metallica’s set and the front half of the stadium became an enormous mosh pit. I went under for a second, then beat a retreat to the back where I stood and watched the rest of the set. There was a long break, at least an hour, between bands. People were starting to throw trash by the time so the camera crew found girls in the crowd and urged them to lift their shirts and it felt like it was getting rowdy, but Guns N’ Roses finally took the stage. Still a great show though.

Ticket stub:

Faith No More:

Setlist:

Cover art:

Recording:

Information
Stream/Download

Metallica:

Setlist:

Cover art:

Recording:

Information
Stream

Guns N’ Roses:

Setlist:

Recording:

Information
Stream

Review:

I loved the Black album, and this show had a heavy dose of that plus all their classics. I think the concert shirt I got from this show was the first one that got too many holes in it to wear.

Ticket stub:

Metallica:

Setlist:

Cover art:

Recording:

Information
Stream

Review:

My first bar show after I turned 21. I think there were other opening bands, but we just wanted to see Kix, local rockers done good. Pretty sure this was my first show with Eric.

Kix:

Setlist:

N/A

Review:

The second time seeing Rush in college – I’m pretty sure Bert was with me again.
According to Rush: Wandering the Face of the Earth, Neil was riding his bicycle around Richmond before the show.

Ticket stub:

Primus:

Setlists:

N/A

Rush:

Cover art:

Recording:

Information

Review:

Guns N’ Roses might have been the biggest rock band on the planet at the time. The show would have been even better had Use Your Illusion been released before the tour so we knew the new songs, but it was still a great show. Too bad there was no encore due to a curfew and Skid Row playing an encore delaying the start of Guns N’ Roses’s set. I have a video of the show and it’s outstanding.

Ticket stub:

Skid Row:

Setlist:

Guns N’ Roses:

Setlist:

Recording:

Information
Stream

Review:

I can’t remember whether I volunteered or I was volunteered, but I ended up helping pack up after the show, and at some point I had a snare drum head and a stick from drummer. It sparked a lifelong fandom of Kevn Kinney, and a firm decision to never be a roadie again.

Egypt:

Setlist:

N/A

Drivin’ N’ Cryin’:

Setlist:

N/A

Review:

In 1991 I was in LA with my family on Spring Break, and we got tickets to the Tonight Show, hoping to get Johnny, but we got Jay Leno. I remember the Pet Shop Boys covering U2, but I didn’t realize that one of them had walked off stage in the middle of the song, and I didn’t remember Jim Carrey being there until I saw the clip (and how awkward it was to watch what Shelley Winters was saying next to my mom). From Literaly (Pet Shop Boys Fan club magazine): “During the first song (“Where The Streets …”) Chris noticed -watching a monitor showing the broadcast -that he hadn’t appeared on camera once and, understandably miffed, walked off during the song. The people from the TV show refused to re-shoot the song and so the Pet Shop Boys refused to play their second song.”

The Pet Shop Boys:

Setlist:

Pictures:

Recording:

Information
Download
stream