I remember a Bob Seger concert when his band was known as the Bob Seger System. In fact, he played with Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes. Now that is old.

 

Regards...................the Chiefjag

 

Not quite as old school, but I did get a chance to see U2 when they came to town on their first US tour.  They played at the Civic Auditorium.  They came back a couple of years later and played the Coliseum with their opening act, The Alarm.  We went down there to buy tickets for a friend of ours the day of the show, and Bono was sitting on the old brick wall outside of the Coliseum just hanging out. 

 

My friend was a huge U2 fan by that point, and he desperately wanted to get an autograph, but the only thing he had on him at the time was his Algebra book since we were coming right from school.  He had Bono autograph that book, and to this day, it's proudly displayed on his "wall of fame" next to a picture he took with Bono years later when he and his wife sneaked into a private party at a pub in Ireland that turned out to be Bono's birthday party.  Bono bought them a pint and chatted with them for a few minutes before he politely escorted them out.

 

We also had an opportunity to meet The Alarm.  They were actually in the back of the Coliseum selling their own cassettes and tee shirts. 

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Not quite as old school, but I did get a chance to see U2 when they came to town on their first US tour.  They played at the Civic Auditorium.  They came back a couple of years later and played the Coliseum with their opening act, The Alarm.  We went down there to buy tickets for a friend of ours the day of the show, and Bono was sitting on the old brick wall outside of the Coliseum just hanging out. 

 

My friend was a huge U2 fan by that point, and he desperately wanted to get an autograph, but the only thing he had on him at the time was his Algebra book since we were coming right from school.  He had Bono autograph that book, and to this day, it's proudly displayed on his "wall of fame" next to a picture he took with Bono years later when he and his wife sneaked into a private party at a pub in Ireland that turned out to be Bono's birthday party.  Bono bought them a pint and chatted with them for a few minutes before he politely escorted them out.

 

We also had an opportunity to meet The Alarm.  They were actually in the back of the Coliseum selling their own cassettes and tee shirts. 

 

Didn't The Alarm also open for U2 at that Civic Auditorium show? The local band The Attitudes was the first band that night, and they played covers of Dancing With Myself and A Day in the Life. I have a vivid memory of Bono singing The Beatles' tune Help while sitting atop a stack of speakers stage left.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

That guy from WINGS looks really old.

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“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.”
― Albert Camus

An algebra book signed by Bono, now that is cool!

 

Regards...................the Chiefjag

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Speaking of 70s songs and "covers"...


Not necessarily a cover, but Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins co-wrote this classic. Each released their own version.


One, you'll instantly recognize. The other, you may never have heard until now.

There is a very good reason as to why the Loggins version is unknown... Just listen to it.... It..... It.... It..... It sucks!

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Signature goes here.

An algebra book signed by Bono, now that is cool!

 

Regards...................the Chiefjag

Very cool indeed.  He's got it in a shadow box.  His parents weren't thrilled that they couldn't unload the book back in the day. 

 

What's also very cool is the picture he and his wife got with Bono.during their party crashing adventure.  Bono was decked out in a bright blue Adidas track suit that says "I don't care!  I'm Bono!"

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Didn't The Alarm also open for U2 at that Civic Auditorium show? The local band The Attitudes was the first band that night, and they played covers of Dancing With Myself and A Day in the Life. I have a vivid memory of Bono singing The Beatles' tune Help while sitting atop a stack of speakers stage left.

Holy cripes!  Your recollection is better than mine.  I had to call my buddy to confirm the venues!  We've seen U2 quite a few times.  The early shows in smaller venues tend to run together.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

In their hey-days live I've seen Queen, Rod Stewart, Zepplin, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Yes, and several other that I'm probably forgetting.  

 
And there's probably several contributing factors to my forgetting...besides my getting old.
 

On a related note, I used to work in the 'recreation association' for Prudential when I lived in Philly (suburbs).  So I worked closely with the ticket manager at The Spectrum (arena).  She used to call us before tickets went officially on sale and she'd always hold tickets aside for her regular customers.  I mean, I'd still have to buy them but they were primo seats.  I've always been more of a rock guy, but the best concert I ever saw was for Billy Joel.  One talented dude and he interacted with the crowd a lot and we were in the third row.

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In their hey-days live I've seen Queen, Rod Stewart, Zepplin, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Yes, and several other that I'm probably forgetting.  

<div> 
And there's probably several contributing factors to my forgetting...besides my getting old.
 

On a related note, I used to work in the 'recreation association' for Prudential when I lived in Philly (suburbs).  So I worked closely with the ticket manager at The Spectrum (arena).  She used to call us before tickets went officially on sale and she'd always hold tickets aside for her regular customers.  I mean, I'd still have to buy them but they were primo seats.  I've always been more of a rock guy, but the best concert I ever saw was for Billy Joel.  One talented dude and he interacted with the crowd a lot and we were in the third row.

</div>

 

PRAC was always good for great deals on concerts and other events. 

 

There was a time when it seemed like Aerosmith was in town every other week.

 

This goes back about 20 years ago if not more.  There was a big music festival down at Metro Park.  It was an interesting venue.  Among the artists playing the concert were a couple of local bands, Adam Ant, The Smithereens, and Miami Sound Machine.  We were there to see the Smithereens, but got down there early enough to catch Adam Ant.  As a child of the 80's, there was at least a mild curiosity to see him live.  The guy got booed off the stage for lip syncing.  It was embarrassing.

 

While one of the "pop" bands was playing leading up to the headliners, Miami Sound Machine, we were wandering around when we ran into The Smithereens standing along the fence just watching the show.  We walked up to them and asked them to autograph some stuff, and struck up a conversation.  Pat Dininzio, their lead singer, was perplexed as to why they were even invited to play the show considering they had nothing in common with the rest of the artists that were there.  One of my buddies who was a huge Smithereens fan continued to talk to them for long enough to get an invite to party with them after the show.  He ended up becoming good friends with the guys in the band.  He moved to Orlando years ago, and the Smithereens used to play down there all the time, so any time they were in town, they would hang out.  He still gets Christmas cards from Pat. They blew the other artists away that particular day.

 

They actually came back to town a few times after that, once playing the band shell at the beach, and another time doing a show for Lex and Terry.  The Smithereens continue to put out music, although it's mostly self published now, but for about 5 minutes in the late 80's, early 90's, they were riding a pretty nice wave of popularity.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

PRAC was always good for great deals on concerts and other events. 

 

In PA we called it PERA. (Prudential Entertainment and Recreation Association).  

 

Oh...and in relation to Aerosmith.  They were horrible crowds.  I saw violence break out a couple of times and they started a damn fire with chairs in the middle of the damn arena.  I went to see them three times, you were almost guaranteed to be scared when you left.

 

One of the very few things I miss about that place.  Plus I was a PERA officer several times and we would always have an 'in' for tickets for just about anything.

 

It's getting damn close to 20 years since I've been gone.  Then again, I transferred down here with them in 1991...so there's that too.

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In PA we called it PERA. (Prudential Entertainment and Recreation Association).  

 

Oh...and in relation to Aerosmith.  They were horrible crowds.  I saw violence break out a couple of times and they started a damn fire with chairs in the middle of the damn arena.  I went to see them three times, you were almost guaranteed to be scared when you left.

 

One of the very few things I miss about that place.  Plus I was a PERA officer several times and we would always have an 'in' for tickets for just about anything.

 

It's getting damn close to 20 years since I've been gone.  Then again, I transferred down here with them in 1991...so there's that too.

 

I worked for them for almost 15 years.  Started out in Prudential Healthcare, and left when Aetna completed the purchase and shut down the data center here in town.  I was close to the person who ran PRAC here in Jax, so any time there was a good ticket opportunity, I'd get prime seats.  We also got great discounts for all the theme parks in the area.  One of the two times I had an opportunity to sit in a luxury suite for a Jaguars game, it was courtesy of PRAC. 

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I worked for them for almost 15 years. Started out in Prudential Healthcare, and left when Aetna completed the purchase and shut down the data center here in town. I was close to the person who ran PRAC here in Jax, so any time there was a good ticket opportunity, I'd get prime seats. We also got great discounts for all the theme parks in the area. One of the two times I had an opportunity to sit in a luxury suite for a Jaguars game, it was courtesy of PRAC.

We probably know a lot of the same people then. I left in 1996 and started contracting as a SAS programmer then a SAS solutions 'expert'.


I'm with my first 'regular' job since then. I had been working at home for 6 1/2 years and they were about to make me go back out on the road again. Couldn't do it. I did that crap for 10+ years.

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Woops some how I ended up in the old peoples thread, I'll have to google some of these names I like learning history.

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We probably know a lot of the same people then. I left in 1996 and started contracting as a SAS programmer then a SAS solutions 'expert'.


I'm with my first 'regular' job since then. I had been working at home for 6 1/2 years and they were about to make me go back out on the road again. Couldn't do it. I did that crap for 10+ years.

 

If you were a SAS programmer, that's pretty likely.  My division was responsible for some of the earlier SAP applications used at Pru for the TPA products.  At the very least, we probably worked on the same side of the building.

 

My older brother was a COBOL programmer there for years until they farmed all of that out to IBM GS.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I saw Green Day play Met Park for their Dookie tour. Also saw the Spin Doctors at the Florida theatre round their hey day. I got to see AFI before they sold out; that was cool.

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PRAC was always good for great deals on concerts and other events. 

 

There was a time when it seemed like Aerosmith was in town every other week.

 

This goes back about 20 years ago if not more.  There was a big music festival down at Metro Park.  It was an interesting venue.  Among the artists playing the concert were a couple of local bands, Adam Ant, The Smithereens, and Miami Sound Machine.  We were there to see the Smithereens, but got down there early enough to catch Adam Ant.  As a child of the 80's, there was at least a mild curiosity to see him live.  The guy got booed off the stage for lip syncing.  It was embarrassing.

 

While one of the "pop" bands was playing leading up to the headliners, Miami Sound Machine, we were wandering around when we ran into The Smithereens standing along the fence just watching the show.  We walked up to them and asked them to autograph some stuff, and struck up a conversation.  Pat Dininzio, their lead singer, was perplexed as to why they were even invited to play the show considering they had nothing in common with the rest of the artists that were there.  One of my buddies who was a huge Smithereens fan continued to talk to them for long enough to get an invite to party with them after the show.  He ended up becoming good friends with the guys in the band.  He moved to Orlando years ago, and the Smithereens used to play down there all the time, so any time they were in town, they would hang out.  He still gets Christmas cards from Pat. They blew the other artists away that particular day.

 

They actually came back to town a few times after that, once playing the band shell at the beach, and another time doing a show for Lex and Terry.  The Smithereens continue to put out music, although it's mostly self published now, but for about 5 minutes in the late 80's, early 90's, they were riding a pretty nice wave of popularity.

 

My wife and I went to a Smithereens concert at UF. It was held in a large classroom, and it was LOUD. We were the oldest ones there.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

If you were a SAS programmer, that's pretty likely. My division was responsible for some of the earlier SAP applications used at Pru for the TPA products. At the very least, we probably worked on the same side of the building.


My older brother was a COBOL programmer there for years until they farmed all of that out to IBM GS.

On a final note to this...from your description and knowing the guy for as long as I have, I'm pretty sure I tailgate with one of those underwriters you refer to. Not sure if it's a clue for you or not, but the guy had a heart attack at work and retired shortly thereafter.

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Ahh, The Smithereens. What a great band.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZbP3ZVem4

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

Holy cripes!  Your recollection is better than mine.  I had to call my buddy to confirm the venues!  We've seen U2 quite a few times.  The early shows in smaller venues tend to run together.

 

You'd think my concert memories would be hazier, given the ever-present cannabis buzz I was always enjoying at concerts. I have a lot of great concert memories.

 

My first concert was Black Sabbath at the old JMC, their Paranoid tour. They did 3 songs, after which the drummer stood up, threw his stool against the wall behind and walked off. Show over.

 

I was at the Led Zeppelin show in 1973 that held the record for the largest crowd ever at the JMC, something like 13,000 in a venue meant for about 10,000. It was festival seating and the crowd on the floor reached the back wall. People were sitting side by side on the aisles between the seats. John Bonham starting the show with the signature drum opening to Rock and Roll was something I'll never forget. The crowd went nuts.

 

Z.Z. Top's encore for their World Wide Texas Tour show at the JMC featured a live long horned steer and a bison in cages on each side of the stage, as well as a rattlesnake under a small glass dome at the front of the stage, which was the in the shape of the state of Texas. As good as Z.Z. Top was that night (before they discovered synthesizers and were a boogie and blues band), their opening act, The Elvin Bishop Band, was better.

 

I miss the concerts where you could see 4 or 5 quality bands for about $7. One that sticks out for me was Joe Walsh and Barnstorm, The Marshall Tucker Band, Fleetwood Mac (before they were a pop band) and Grinderswitch. What a great night of music. You could smell the cannabis soon after the house lights dimmed.

 

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull would twirl his flute around, and once lost his grip, allowing it to fly into the crowd. He immediately stopped the show, asked for the house lights, then begged the crowd to return the flute. It came back in three pieces, but he was so happy they did an extra encore.

 

You couldn't smoke anything at the Civic Auditorium, but they allowed you to step outside for a smoke and re-enter. Pat Travers and The Outlaws were so loud you could even enjoy them outside.

 

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet band doing two shows in one night at the CA. I bought tickets for both shows, and it was worth it.

 

My sister yelling for The Pretenders to play Tattooed Love Boys at the Florida Theater, and Chrissie Hynde telling her to be patient, they'll get to it.

 

Ziggy Marley at the Florida Theater, and his sister Cedella driving the crowd nuts as she strutted across the stage, dreads flying, singing the following from of Could You Be Loved...

 

You ain't gonna miss your water until your well runs dry;

No matter how you treat him, the man will never be satisfied.

 

Good times.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

I remember seeing The Rolling Stones at the old Capitol Center in Landover Maryland. Bobby Womack opened for them. This was during their Tattoo You Tour in 1981. Tickets were $20 a pop (most concerts back then were like $12 a ticket) Womack stunk up the stage, everyone was shouting "We Want The Stones". We had seats behind the stage but it was still a great concert experience.

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