My first concert was The Hondells at the Colorado Springs City Auditorium in 1965 or early 1966. My mom drove me there and dropped me off (two blocks from the building, I was only 13 and having anyone seeing your mom drop you off was NOT COOL!)

I saw quite a few bands in that rickety facility. Strawberry Alarm Clock, Vanilla Fudge, Chicago to name a few. Saw the Pretenders there shortly after Chrissy and the boys cut their second album.

I've been to quite a few concerts at Red Rocks, the best natural outdoor venue in the world. Some that take precedence. Jethro Tull in 1970. There was a riot. 9000 people inside (the capacity of the venue) and 6000 people outside trying to get in. ...got maced twice and tear gassed three times. Cops on walk-ways a hundred feet above the parking lots and gates were throwing rocks down at anyone. Police helicopters were dropping tear gas, lobbed a few into the amphitheater while Tull was playing. The riot, to that point, was only on the outside.... Rock concerts were banned from that facility for four or five years after that night.

...when the Morrison city fathers decided to let rock back into Red Rocks, it was at a very slow pace. It wasn't until the 80's that they were booking bands that I wanted to see. Boz Scaggs and The Little River Band was a good show, as were The Eurythmics and The Pretenders. Howard Jones two times, and Tears For Fears, excellent!!! Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the crowd was worth the price of the ticket! The Frankie concert was the first time I ever saw a female with mohawk, also the first place I ever saw a female with a half mohawk. ...and the band put on a pretty good show!

...back to working concert production in the 90's in a small club (Rack 'n Roll) in a secondary market in central Colorado.

Ozark Mountain Daredevils. They played every song on their first album, I was singing along all night.

Bo Diddley. The dude could still rock, well into his 60's, ten years ago.

Pat Travers. Boom Boom, out go the lights! He rocked, and had a kid playing beside him that almost stole the show. That was the first club show where I had to deal with aircraft landing lights as part of the stage lighting. Putting a focus (aiming the light cans) on a system that uses these types of lights in a small venue can be painful. I had to sit down for a couple hours after focusing these lights. ....that's a story for another day.

Arlo Guthrie. Was very cool. His road manager was the biggest jerk I ever encountered working in the music business. I told him so after the concert, and he took it as a compliment...

Quiet Riot. The loudest noise I have ever heard. Period. I liked some of the bands music before they set up in the club. Even wearing ear plugs, by the end of the night, the constant volume of noise was making me feel sick. I told Kevin Dubrow (sp?)that his bands music was too loud. He told me I was too old if I thought it was too loud. I told him that I must be too old to stand next to a running jet engine too. ...if I remember right, they needed a higher decible level feed through the monitors than through the main PA. My end opinion, don't tell me I'm too old when you are half deaf!

Sun 60. Joan Jones has the best set of pipes I've ever heard! That little girl can put down the microphone and sing loud enough to be heard along with her amplified band. I worked with her twice when she was with Sun 60. I think she is doing solo stuff now.

Cheryl Crow. Played the Rack twice, the second time was about three weeks before her first album hit the charts. A very nice, and a very talented lady.

Rusted Root. All acoustic except for the bass player, very innovative music with a lot of percussion. Scotty (the club owner) was surprised that I knew about this band before he booked them.

Blues Traveler. Imagine a band and crew that played Red Rocks the night before, and they tried to load all of their stuff into a 400 max person night club! They had to leave half of it in the semi. Great show!

I have more stuff about good and lousy shows by well known and lesser known bands, but this is all I have time for tonight.

Bob