Dumbek's Random Stuff

10/20/81 - Foreigner/Billy Squier - Capital Centre - Landover, MD

Foreigner was one of the biggest bands in the land at the time. Touring for 4 , this was a show not to be missed.

Billy Squier opened. Not very surprising - he was opening for just about everybody back then. I loved him at the time. I still kinda do, actually. Don't Say No is a pretty kick-ass rock record. It didn't hurt that I thought he was kinda hot. (Insert "Stroke Me" joke here.)

This was actually the second time I had seen Foreigner. I was quite the fanboy at the time. Fun show - all the hits. "Jukebox Hero," "Urgent," "Cold As Ice," "Double Vision"... We were the envy of all my little high school friends. Great time, even though...ummm...I think my mom took me and my friends. And not "I'll come back and pick you up later." More like "I have a ticket and I'll be sitting with you all night." For the most part my mom was cool about stuff like that though. The only time she was annoying was when people were lighting up around us. At least she was willing to take us, since we couldn't drive ourselves yet. That would change soon though.



10/20/89 - The Grateful Dead @ The Spectrum - Philly, PA

Nice, long first set on this one - 10 songs. That ..."Memphis Blues..." is just crazy. Bob at his sqwawkiest. "OHHHH! OOHHHH MAMA!!!! " hehe. Love that song. The big surprise tonight came at the end of the set. They had just finished "Promised Land" - which is always the last song of the set (if they play it), but they didn't leave the stage. Jerry finally hit a few chords than started playing something unfamiliar. It turned out to be a country song called "California Earthquake," originally by Rodney Crowell. The big SF earthquake was just a few days earlier. There was talk of the band going home and bailing on the tour, but they stuck it out. This was their first acknowledgement of the disaster that was going on at home. This was the first of only two times they'd play it. The chorus:

California earthquake you just don't know what you've done
We may fall off in the ocean, but you'll never make us run
You're a partner of the devil, but we ain't afraid of him
We'll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again

brought lots of cheers from the crowd. Nice moment.

The second set was a totally rockin' dance-fest if there ever was one. "Hey Pocky Way" opened the set - the only time I'd ever get to see that one. "Scarlet>Fire>Truckin'" kept things going quite nicely. There's always a nice long jam after "Truckin'" and we were expecting "Space" to follow, but they started hinting at "The Other One." They never play that song pre-drums anymore, so we figured it was just a hint of things to come. But it kept going and going. They never actually got to the song, but they danced around the overall theme of it in all kinds of different ways. And it went on for like 10 minutes. Wow. I know it sounds pretty dorky if you're not into it - but that was a pretty exciting little jam they pulled out. They finally got to the song post-space. Actually, it was after "I Will Take You Home". God, I used to hate when they played that song right after space. buzz-kill. And, of course, the encore was "Brokedown Palace," as usual for the Spectrum.

Another classic 1989 show. The band is kicking these days. One more show for us and our Fall Tour '89 is over.



10/20/2007 - Bob Mould "Circle of Friends" movie/solo performance.

As part of the Reel Affirmations Film Festival last year they had a showing of Bob's new Circle Of Friends DVD. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. It kicks some serious butt. And I'm not just saying that because I was there when they filmed it. Anyway - after the screening Bob came out and did a handful of songs. It's the only time I've asked Bob for an autograph. I felt a little awkward about that.