Friday, August 5, 2011

More Rock and Roll Memories From Bygone Times











Looking through my journal from the fall of my sophomore year in college, 1982, 29 years ago in Syracuse, I found something interesting. Amongst the embarrassing schlock that forms the majority of my entries – a plethora of pseudo-rock star posing – I found two set lists I wrote down from concerts I saw that year.



On September 26, 1982, I went with three friends to Buffalo’s Rich Stadium. We slept in our car in someone’s front yard, paying a small fee to park there. Once inside, we watched the Clash open, and then the Who, a band I idolized at the time. I wrote down their playlist from that day in my journal. They opened at 5:25 p.m. and closed the show after a three-song encore at 7:40.



For you Who fans out there, here it is:



1) Substitute



2) I Can’t Explain



3) Dangerous



4) Sister Disco



5) The Quiet One



6) It’s Hard



7) Eminence Front



8) Behind Blue Eyes



9) Baba O’Reilly



10) I Am One



11) Funk Meets the Godfather



12) Drowned



13) A Man is a Man



14) Cry If You Want



15) Who Are You?



16) Pinball Wizard



17) See Me, Feel Me



18) 5:15



19) Love, Reign O’er Me



20) Long Live Rock



21) Won’t Get Fooled Again



22) Naked Eye (encore)



23) Summertime Blues (encore)



24) Twist and Shout (encore)



It’s going to sound ridiculous for me to say this now, but they don’t make shows like that anymore. Then, a week later, I saw the Clash headline at SUNY Binghamton. They opened at about 9:30 p.m. and played the last of five encore songs at around 11.



For all you Clash-heads, here’s their set list:



1) London Calling



2) Janie Jones



3) Know Your Rights



4) Spanish Bombs



5) The Guns of Brixton



6) Train in Vain



7) Rock the Casbah



8) The Magnificent Seven



9) The Leader



10) Police on My Back



11) English Civil War



12) This is Radio Clash



13) Bankrobber



14) Career Opportunities



15) Should I Stay Or Should I Go



16) Brand New Cadillac



17) Clampdown



18) Armagideon Time (encore)



19) Somebody Got Murdered (encore)



20) I Fought the Law (encore)



21) White Man in Hammersmith Palais (encore)



22) Garageland (encore)



I wish I could write more about either of these experiences, but the truth is, I don’t remember much, for precisely the reasons one might think a 19 year-old young man might forget a rock concert. I’m glad I wrote the set lists down.

1 comment:

  1. Hey - I was at the same Clash concert. I don't remember seeing you there. Was Miki there too? (I wasn't much of a Who fan).
    BTW, I enjoy reading your blog.

    ReplyDelete