Well, it sounded like a pretty good concert at Mosaic Stadium last night with Bon Jovi and Kid Rock. We could actually hear it from our deck!
I’m not a big fan of live concerts and haven’t been for years. I can’t understand someone actually driving all the way to Winnipeg, Calgary or even Toronto just to see a 2 hour show. It befuddles me. I wasn’t always that way.
I still remember seeing Kiss and Cheap Trick at the Lethbridge Sportsplex on July 28, 1977. I don’t know why, but I’ve never forgotten that date. The anticipation was incredible. A band that we had read about in all of those rock magazines of the day was actually coming to Lethbridge. To me Kiss was the greatest rock band ever, from the costumes, to the blood spitting, to the smoking guitar solo by my hero (even today) Ace Frehley. His guitar would actually start smoking while he was in the middle of some great solo. Cool! The show had everything. Explosions, lights, strobes, a drum set that rose 20 feet in the air at the end of the cocert! I’d never seen anything like it.
I remember the afternoon of the show, me and about 4 or 5 buddies actually hung around the back of the Sportsplex waiting for Gene, Paul, Ace and Criss to get off a bus and head into the arena. We stood there for hours hoping to be the first people to catch a glimpse of the boys without their make-up.
We just couldn’t wait to get into the arena. The atmosphere was magical. It smelled kind of funny in there. Must have been the american cigarettes everyone seemed to be smoking!
Now that I think about it, maybe I can understand people driving a long way just to see a concert. If that night is as magical for them as it was for me on July 28, 1977, then they’ll have that memory forever, just like I do.
Maybe they’ll even remember the exact date some 30 years later.
I hope they do!
