Presidents of the United States of America & David Lee Roth (May 24th 2003)
Ah, the first few innocent days of the summer before College. After going to a WWE event the previous week, my friends and I thought we had peaked on our summer fun a little too early. Boy were we wrong.
It was a rainy warm night in late May and like always my friends and I had no clue what we were going to do. We had overextended ourselves on HALO and other various videogames and frankly were bored out of our minds. I believe it was Andrew King who came to the rescue with the idea of going downtown to see the Presidents of the United States of America.
Now I had heard of this band before, but only because Weird Al did a parody of their song �Lump� about 7 years prior. Which scared me because it was a band I hadn�t of heard of for quite some time, which meant no one cared about them anymore. I was reluctant because lets face it: 1. I hate going downtown 2. I hate standing in the rain 3. POTUSA?!?!? cmon they probably suck
Eventually I was talked into it (the fact that I don�t drive and or have a car helped with my decision and I was on my way downtown.
Well it turns out the concert was to be in association with Speed Week. Anyone raised in the South has an idea of what that means, basically drunk NASCAR fans. So about a hundred or so gathered in front of the stage and POTUSA came out as it started to rain. All I have to say is that they were pretty lame. They ran through the longest set list EVER. I mean they are a one hit band. Anyways, the of course did the two main hits they had and tortured our ears by inviting a very drunk and ugly woman onstage (accidently) to meow. It was the definition of lame.
As they went into an encore, my friends and I tired of their antics and started to leave. However we heard something in the distance. What was it? Could it be?
YES IT WAS. DAVID LEE ROTH!!!!!!!!
We rushed to the stage, dodging the drunk hippies, vomited food, and smell of marijuana. He was just beginning his encore of his song with Van Halen �Jump.� Roth was jumping up and down, doing one high kick after another and twirling a giant pipe around. It was incredible. As the climax to �Jump� kicked in, fireworks went off above the stage. It was insane, DLR stole the night and made the wet night well worth it.
Well it was a thrilling experience, one that my friends and I will never forget. If only Van Halen could get back together...
Sigh
David Bowie (January 7th 2004)
On September 16th 2003, David Bowie released his newest album entitled Reality. He also announced plans for a tour. I knew I had to see him on this tour. One problem though-he wasn't going into the south. This left me two options, fly out to Phoenix during the middle of second semester or go to the Cleveland gig, I chose Cleveland.
January 6th
At approximately 3:30 PM on an ordinary January day, my Dad and I got into our car and started to drive to Raleigh. We arrived that night around 7:30 and went to eat at a Cracker Barrel. The waiter spilled a pitcher of ice tea and got my pants a little wet. An Omen? Went to bed at 10:30.
January 7th
Woke up at 4:45 AM for our 7:30 flight. Went down and had a slice of toast and orange juice. Took the shuttle to Raleigh International. I became a little unnerved by Raleigh's use of placards for times and destinations, place wasn't digitized. Security was easy enough to get through. Flew at 7:30 to Nashville and arrived around 7:50 Central Time. Had to practically run to next gate to catch the flight into Cleveland. Caught plane and flew into Cleveland arriving around 11 AM. Took taxi to our hotel. The hotel was located right in downtown Cleveland, right next to Jacob's Field and Gund Arena. The Hotel was pretty fancy and the rooms were suites. My Dad and I walked around a bit and got lunch at a Ballpark restaurant that had really good chili dogs. We went back and my dad took a nap while I watched MTVs Real World. I fear I am becoming addicted to that show. Anyways, the time was finally upon us. At 5 we went to a pub and ate there then caught a shuttle to the Cleveland State Convocation Center.
THE CONCERT
We walked around the arena and checked out the vendors. I ended up getting a poster and a pretty sweet David Bowie beanie cap. We took our seats, directly across from the stage. The cool thing was that the soundboard was in front of us and I was able to check out the set. It seemed pretty short, but I was there to rock out. At 7:30, Macy gray walked out. I think she was high as her eyes were closed the whole time and she kept on mumbling about Cleveland being "sexy." Her set was actually pretty enjoyable with a ton of funk driven numbers including a cover of the Beatles "Come Together." The best part was her keyboardist/trumpet player. This Moe Rocca with a goatee look alike was jamming out on the keys as if it were the last day on Earth. She started to wear out her welcome around the 25 minute mark but performed for 15 minuted more which included a song about masturbation that made me and from the looks of it, everyone else extremely uncomfortable. She finally sauntered off at 8:15 starting the wait.
At this point I had to use the bathroom as did it seems everyone else in the place. I have never waited in line to use a urinal. I mean c'mon. A URINAL. And then they would stand right behind you, a man can't perform under such pressure. Anyways, I made my way back and continued to wait as the stage was set up. The stage consisted of a movie screen, which had a catwalk and what looked to be white dead branches hanging over the catwalk. Around 9 PM, a loud jam started to take place as cartoon images of Bowie and his band could be seen jamming on the screen. (Band: Earl Slick-Lead Guitar, Gail Ann Dorsey-Bass, Gerry Leonard-Rhythm/Lead Guitar and Musical Director, Mike Garson-Keyboards, some woman whose name I always forget-percussion, keys, etc). Finally it happened.
The guitar riff of "Rebel Rebel" seared the air as two lights came on and Bowie walked out, the lights making the only thing visible his shadowy outline. The crowd went wild and when the song was over, the man spoke. "HELLO CLEVELAND YOU CRAZY F****s!" Which led into his new hit "New Killer Star" Man was it insane, I started to pump my fist along with the crowd. This led into "Reality" and then into the fascist funk of "Fashion" with a searing guitar solo courtesy of Mr. Leonard. A song from the Ziggy Stardust album "Hang Onto Yourself" was next and the crowd went totally wild. "Fame" came next, which was a slight disappointment to me, as I've heard it about 1,234,325 times and it gets old. Next was a cover of the Pixie's song "Cactus" but a few seconds in Bowie stopped the band to speak to the crowd again "Why is it that you Americans don't listen to great American bands like the Pixies? Why do you put up with all the s*** on the radio?" This got a huge pop from the crowd and the song went on. Next was "All the Young Dudes" a personal favorite of mine, and I joined in as we all sang along to this ode to the 70s. Another crowd pleaser "china Girl" came next. Now I really don't like that song, but it was enjoyable and it pleases all the people who paid 35 dollars expecting to hear the Let's Dance album. Bowie toned it down with the next song "The Loneliest Guy" from the new album. I couldn't believe that a ton of people got up to get beer during this song as it was an incredible ballad. Some guy whistled throughout the whole song and Bowie mentioned it after he was done and joked that they paid a ton for that guy. He then proceeded to make a joke about George Orwell's 1984 and about Proust, citing that "I know people come to Bowie concerts for literary jokes."
The classic "The Man Who Sold the World" came next (A Bowie original, not a freaking Nirvana cover) and it didn't light too many people on fire as they were coming back to their seats. The heavy industrial techno beats of "Hallo Spaceboy" came next as Bowie used the catwalk and mocked the audience. The bass was so loud that even from across the floor from the speakers, I could feel my heart boom along with the song. The awesome song "Sunday" came next, and Bowie crooned it for all it was worth and Earl Slick gave an apocalyptic guitar solo at the end of it. Bowie then introduced the band, saving the last introduction for Gail Ann Dorsey who was to sing Freddie Mercury's parts on the next song: "Under Pressure." This soaring anthem was incredible and as moving as all, as the crowd sang along to the desperate pleas to "Give Love one more chance." The fan favorite "Life on Mars?" was next, and Bowie showed his voice was still in fine form by belting it out. Bowie then proclaimed the next song would stick with the space theme which led into the synth into of "Ashes to Ashes" (Note to person behind me dancing in the Canada t-shirt, he DOESN'T PLAY SPACE ODDITY ANYMORE SO DON'T COMPLAIN DURING A SWEET SONG) anyways, it was "funky" as ever. The next song was the music-hallesque "Changes" which got the whole crowd singing along again. Bowie then claimed he was not afraid of Americans to which the band just stood still. (I later found out that Bowie completely forgot about 2 songs in the set: "She'll Drive the Big Car," and "Never Get Old" which woulda been sweet but anyways...) Bowie apologized and the band realized what occurred and they went along with it (He's 57, cut him a break). "I'm Afraid of American's" rocked out as much as one can imagine and led into what Bowie called "the flip side, this is your song America" and into a beautiful version of "Heroes." After it was over, bowie said goodnight and walked off. Everyone stood up and cheered and sang "Heroes" acapella style for 7 minutes, till finally the lights went on again and Bowie strolled out.
At this point I was expecting a simple encore but when Bowie said they were gonna make it up and the start to "Afraid" kicked in I knew we were in for something special. "Afraid" rocked and I wasn't sure what was next till Bowie announced it. They were going to play "Be My Wife." (FANBOY MODE- OMG "BE MY WIFE" FROM THE ALBUM LOW, MY FAVORITE BOWIE ALBUM AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME.-OFF) I sang my heart out and then Bowie announced he was going to play a rarity, "Fantastic Voyage" from Lodger. And what a rarity! He has only played the song live about 5 times, and we in Cleveland were about to hear it! The song is so rare that I think I was the only person pumping my fist in the air and screaming "YEAH." Next up was one of the best songs of the night, a cover of Velvet Underground's "White Light, White Heat." I have never rocked so hard in my life as people were screaming and the guitars were ripping through the very fabric of my being. After that barnburner, Bowie took out the acoustic and started to strum out the Ziggy Hit "5 Years." The crowd cheered it on as it led into the number one song of the night "Suffragette City." Bowie and the audience connected on this Ziggy number and the place went into the stratosphere. The whole crowd screaming the lyrics as Bowie tried to keep up, and then it came: guitars got louder, bass got heavier then Bowie along with 8,000 rabid fans screaming in orgasmic release as all the lights went off and only the video screen had a test pattern to light the arena screamed "WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM!!!!!!" Finally Bowie ended on "Ziggy Stardust" and on the last line of "ZIGGY PLAAAYYEDD GUII-TAAAAARR" Bowie raised his arms to the heavens and the word "BOWIE" lit up on the screen behind him. Bowie and band bowed and then walked off to 5 minutes worth of screaming fans till the houselights came up, it was over.
January 8th
Woke up at 8:30 AM still in shock and disbelief over seeing the rock God David Bowie on stage. I still can't grasp it completely. My dad and I packed and said goodbye to the luxorious hotel as we took a cab to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. The place is incredible, and had an amazing aura about it. I got to be inches away from Hendrix's guitar, John Deacon's bass and other artifacts of the rock world. We spent 5 hours there and easily could've spent more. We eventually had to leave and caught our flights and got back into Raleigh at 11:30 PM
January 9th
To add to how surreal the trip was, I woke up to snow in our hotel, and after a snowball fight with my dad we headed back from our sweet and awesome adventure.