Memorable Concert Moments

On December 10th, 2007 the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited for one show only at the O2 Arena in London with Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, their original drummer. The show was commemorated with a three-disc Blu-ray set entitled Celebration Day. Recently I received my copy and as I put it in to play I started to wonder what it must have been like to be in the audience that night. What a memorable moment it must have been to see them come out on stage at a concert most had decided would never happen. It was at this point I decided to write about the most memorable concert moments JMH has had. Not necessarily the best concerts or the best memories at a concert, but the most memorable moments we've had on our way, during or after a concert. Some of them have been documented previously on this blog, but have never been listed out. Below is that list, hope you enjoy:

5. "Let's bend him over, we want Bob" - I'm not even sure how to explain this moment, but I will give it a try. JM and I had taken a large group of friends over to Riverport to see Aerosmith and were out on the lawn. After the concert the crowd started filing out JM and I noticed that there was a circle of people that weren't moving towards the steps. Now this wasn't unusual, JM and I had hung out on the lawn before to let the crowd disperse and just soak up the atmosphere as long as we could. However this circle of people seemed to have a different agenda.

I could hear them saying something, but wasn't able to make it out. I turned to JM and pointed to the circle and said something to the effect of "hey, let's go check this out." Always up for adventure we worked our way closer to the group. As we got closer I could tell they were chanting something, but still wasn't able to make it out. I was getting more and more intrigued the closer we got. Finally we were right behind them, it was a fairly large circle of people, I'm estimating about 40 - 50 people in a circle at least two rows deep, they had their arms around each other and were chanting over and over. We listened intently as they chanted "Let's bend him over, we want Bob." JM and I both heard it at the same time, looked at each other and bolted. Nothing needed to be said, we both knew it was time to leave these wackadoo's alone. To this day I have no idea what that means (just a word of caution, do not Google that phrase), but I knew at the time that it would be best not to stick around and find out.

4. First Mosh - "Moshing" or what was once called "slamdancing" is where concert-goers push or slam into each other, usually while moving in a circle. It started with punk concerts, but now is a staple for any hard or heavy concert as well. It's a form of expression, although some would say it's a form of "sanctioned" or "accepted" violence. I'm here to tell you that that sentiment couldn't be further from the intent of moshing, however in most all of the pits that I've seen or been involved in there's always one or two clowns that try to ruin it for the others, by being overly aggressive. Usually they are quickly identified and shunned from the group though. Most of the time it's just a large somewhat controlled chaos that can be loads of fun.

Our first experience was at a Metallica concert. We were high on the lawn (towards the top, not the other high!)and saw that a mosh circle or pit had formed lower on the grassy field during one of the opening acts. We watched for several minutes not sure if we wanted to join or not. If you aren't experienced, from afar it looks like a sure-fire disaster waiting to happen. It looks like you're just asking for a bloody-face and broken bones. Now, who in their right mind voluntarily goes looking for that? But the draw was just too great, we had to see why so many people went looking for this experience.

As we approached you could just feel the excitement building or was it fear? Maybe a little of both. We got to the outside of the circle where there is a weird dichotomy. An area of eerie calm, right against a world of wild frenzy. The circle of moshing was moving fast and furious, like a tornado of people. JM and I took one last look at each other and then stepped closer, we were right on the edge, the point of no return.

JM was the first one in and in a blink was gone, swallowed up by the crowd, I tried to follow quickly, but we were already separated. Once in the circle it was amazing how quiet and surreal it gets, while still being so loud and frantic all at the same time. Now the grass had been mostly torn away already by the all of the action, so traction wasn't the greatest and I remember slipping and falling face first to the ground. I was on the ground in a sea of people running in a circle slamming into each other. I quickly had thoughts that much like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, this was where all of my fears were going to come true, I was going to get killed in this mess.

I felt feet running across my back (afterwards you could see the individual shoe impressions on the back of my white shirt), one after the other, but what I didn't expect was the number of hands I felt on my arms, grabbing me and helping me up. It was then that I realized how wrong my initial thoughts of moshing were. It wasn't about violence, it was about sharing the excitement of the moment. It was about becoming a concert family. It's hard to explain unless you have been in one, but it was definitely an eye opener for me and one of those moments in life that helped me to realize some things have to be tried to be appreciated.

3. Meeting Metallica - In February of '97' JM and I had the privilege of going back stage before a Metallica stadium concert to meet the guys. We were just two in a group of about 20 people that were invited to meet them. We were escorted deep into the back of the stadium to a meeting room filled with snacks and beverages. Shortly after arriving one by one Jason, James and Kirk started filing into the meeting area. Lars was a no-show, personal issues we were told, but it didn't take away from the fact that the others were there.

What was so memorable about this event was that they weren't seated behind a table or corded off by a rope and protected by body guards, they simply came into the room and started mingling. They each took time to talk and take pictures and ask questions. They were certainly down to earth and seemed to enjoy the quiet before the storm. It gave this concert a much different feeling than all the other Metallica concerts we've been to before and since.

2. Saved by the Dukes of Hazzard - This story has already been well documented by an earlier post, so I won't go through it again, but this is certainly a moment I will never forget.

1. Page & Plant - In 1994 Robert Plant and Jimmy Page released an acoustic album of Led Zeppelin tunes and in support of that album reunited in 1995 for quasi LZ reunion albeit without John Paul Jones and with a huge accompanying band. I think they were trying to separate themselves from the original line-up of LZ as possible while still trying to be as true to the band as they could. JM and I were able to get tickets as these concerts quickly sold out. Most realized that this was the closest they were ever going to get to a full out LZ reunion. LZ, the greatest rock band of all time, had disbanded in 1980 after the death of John Bonham.

Now, this concert is still the most electric concert I've ever been to. Ironic considered it was in support of an acoustic album, but let me explain. Each concert has a different feel to it. You can start feeling the "vibe" of the crowd when you first arrive. Upon arrival to the Page & Plant concert it was the most intense, electric feeling I've ever felt. There was a buzz in the crowd. People were so excited that nobody was sitting, which isn't unusual at the start of each concert, but this was different as people were all standing and the house lights were still on!

But this post isn't about the concert, that's a blog for a different day. This is about that first moment when Page and Plant first took the stage. This was rock royalty, the greatest music making duo in the history of rock music and they were on stage about to perform and I was in the audience to witness it. It was time to just enjoy and I did and I will never forget that moment when I knew I was about to live a dream.

Honorable mentions in this category are:

1. Seeing a tshirt scalper get tackled off his moped by a cop on the street after a concert.

2. The incident simply known as the Metallica brawl.

3. Nearly getting attacked by 90 year old woman because JM's cowboy hat was too big and blocking her view.

There are so many more that I could write a post a day for the next year about these moments and I might someday. It was so hard to narrow it down. Hope you enjoy.

Bonus moment! JM is infamous for his small bladder. Many of time we have had to stop to find a bathroom at the most inopportune time. This is probably the most talked about bathroom story in JMH history and there wasn't even a bathroom involved.

We were on our way to a concert in Saint Louis with a group of friends in my mothers navy blue Cadillac. We were in the heart of STL when JM informs us that he has to urinate and there is no way he's going to be able to make it until we got to the venue. We hadn't ever had this problem before, we were past our regular stopping point, so I took the next exit that had a sign for a gas station and proceeded to pull up to the building.

Now the first thing I noticed was that this gas station had seen it's better days. It was old and run down, but hey, we were guys right, how bad could the bathroom be for us?

We got out leaving several friends in the car and started to walk up to the door. It was at this moment that I noticed that there were bars on the door. Hmmm, that's odd. Wait, there's no handle on the door, how do we get in? I tried to push the door, it wouldn't budge, then JM took a turn. Nothing. I looked around and started thinking that this must have been the place that inspired the scene in National Lampoon's Vacation where the Griswold family had all of the hubcaps on the family truckster stolen.

About this time there was a window next to the door again with bars on it. One of the workers knocked at the window, looking at us with us curiosity quickly identifying us as "not from around here" and asked "can I help ya with somethin'." We were like yeah, we need to use the bathroom. He answered "nah, man...ain't got none." He barely had the words out when I had realized that we needed to leave and leave quickly. However, JM had a different plan. He HAD to go!

He started walking around the side of the building. I was like...uhhh, what are you doing? Going to the bathroom, he replied. But there wasn't a bathroom for us to use anywhere close. I just knew this was going to be the end of the line for us, but I followed him anyways. We walked to the back of the building, down an alley and behind an old abandoned building.

So many thoughts. How far is he going? Why did I choose this exit? How are the kids back in the car doing? Are they still alive? Mom's car!!! I could hear Clint Eastwood's voice in my head saying "Clyde, strip the caddy!" How was I going to explain this one?

About this time JM was turning to face the building and I knew what was happening. Well, due to all of the excitement I had to go to, no time or opportunity like the present at this point, so I faced the building and well, you get the picture. When were finished we took off towards the car. I'm telling you a fat kid has never run that fast without chocolate cake being involved! As we finished the second block back to the car we turned the corner and spotted the car, it was still there and intact, but there seemed to be a growing number of "onlookers" surrounding the car. I knew we had to get out here quick.

JM and I started running faster, this would've been an awesome time to do a Bo Duke hood slide but I thought better of it. As we approached the car I started hollering, I thought distraction might serve as well. JM started whooping some sort of war cry. I wanted to stop and ask him where that came from, but decided now was the time for discussing such trivial matters, besides it was working. The crowd start looking around befuddled. We both hopped into the car and which thankfully someone inside had thought to start for us to save some time. Once in we were gone in a flash!

Needless to say the friends inside the car were none to happy with us, but all JM and I could do was laugh. Laughing out of thrill and relief. For those that are slow, I will stop and let that last sentence sink in.

Here's hoping you have some thrill and relief in all of your days...MH