My Third Concert: Lollapalooza '93

My brother used a sick day to buy our tickets to Lollapalooza '93 at Buckeye Lake just east of Columbus.

I remember taking the day off from work at a YMCA Camp. When I had asked my boss to take the day off, he simply asked for some documentation. I proceeded to write an essay proclaiming Lollapalooza's value as a cultural event. They still have that paper in my file at Camp Willson.

We picked up a couple of girls who went to our high school and followed the family hairdresser and her husband as they weaved through highway traffic through Columbus.

It was a typically hot and humid Ohio summer day. We often found ourselves refilling water bottles and desperately searching for shade in the open field.

Rage Against the Machine opened the show nearly assaulting the audience. I remember Zach de la Rocha screaming something about the police. At that exact moment, several of the rent-a-cops and state patrolmen gathered in a group. I don't know if was just a coincidence, but they definitely gathered during Rage's set.

That day, we watched the fem-Nirvana of Babes in Toyland. A puppet show that featured all the holes of the body highlighted the second stage along with sets by Tool and the Coctails. Arrested Development got the crowd dancing and Dinosaur Jr induced head bobbing.

The show was co-headlined by Alice in Chains and Primus, two of out favorite bands at the time. Layne Staley of Chains came out in a suit before finally stripping down to almost nothing. Primus ended the night. One of the highlights was when Fishbone's Angelo Moore joined Les Claypool for a few songs.

This was probably the day that single-handily changed my view of the world. Between the numerous bands, hemp stands, and pro-choice I saw that there were viewpoints way outside of my current scope.

My Second Concert: Spin Doctors

This was the show that told me I needed to be more discriminating in my concert choices. Although I was only 18, most of the audience was 5-6 years younger...not counting their parents.

Thank god Screaming Trees opened. Their presence alone kept the evening from being totally forgettable.

My First Concert: Soul Asylum

March 17, 1993:

I was a senior in high school. It was a cold St. Patrick's Day. I got my picture in the Columbus Dispatch.

That night, we headed to Columbus to catch the Soul Asylum show at the Newport Music Hall. Green beer was flowing. We bought our t-shirts and received free, matching hats.

Vic Chestnut put on an inspired set that put the crowd to sleep. There were people actually sitting on the Newport floor for this portion of the show. The audience actually cheered when his set was done.

The Goo Goo Dolls came on to impress with their blue-collar Buffalo punk. All I can remember is how one of the guys had the longest, shaggiest bangs I've ever seen. There were no accoustic power ballads that night.

Soul Asylum came on and promptly played all their hits. We moshed. We had fun. We ate tacos.

Hamilton Leithauser Wanted to Buy You a Drink

We were at Little Brothers for a Walkmen show, hanging with some friends, and enjoying a few beverages.

Walkmen front man, Hamilton Leithauser, approached my sister's roommate. He offered to buy my sister's roommate a drink.

She turned him down.

We never forgave her for this.

Take Off the Mask, Conor

I saw Bright Eyes play a raucous show once at Little Brothers in Columbus. Conor Oberst came out wearing a rubber George W. Bush mask. He only lifted the mask slightly when he needed another swig from his rather large bottle of red wine.

The mask stayed on through two or three songs despite pleas from several young women in the crowd to take it off. They just wanted to see his face, which they did, eventually.

Stephen Malkmus Doesn't Know His Own Lyrics and Blackie Onassis Is Gay

A buddy of mine used to work for the weekly entertainment rag in Columbus. His editor had been around and seen a few shows in her day. One of those shows was a Pavement show at Stache's.

After the gig, the woman approached front man Stephen Malkmus. She proceeded to tell him that he sang the wrong lyrics to Pavement favorite "Summer Babe".

Knowing that he wrote and recorded the song in question, Malkmus disagreed. The woman insisted that he sang it differently than how he had on the record. Malkmus stuck by his story and eventually escaped my friend's boss.

It should also be noted that this same person who questioned Malkmus also tried to proposition Urge Overkill drummer Blackie Onassis, also in Stache's. While making a b-line for the uber-cool percussionist, Marcy Mays (Scrawl co-founder) stopped the editor from making a terrible mistake. "Don't waste your time," Mays warned. "He's gay."

Too bad no one stopped her from making an ass of herself to Malkmus.

(Stories courtesy of Chad.)

Bob Pollard's Drunk Again

Bob Pollard has been known to drink a lot while performing on stage with his band, Guided By Voices. I saw him last one song with another band, The Flaming Lips.

The band packed itself onto the tiny stage at Stache's and began to rip through "Motor Away" as Pollard joined them with a beer in hand. The problem was that Bob was singing but there were no vocals to be heard. Eventually, he figured out that the mic had been switched off.

As Mr. Pollard literally slumped to another side of the stage (a spot in which he'd stay the rest of the evening), Wayne Coyne asked if he had forgotten the words to the song.