), you will find stories about many of the shows I have seen over the years.\u00a0 If my entire concert history could be held in a five gallon bucket, Loraine\u2019s story archive would overflow a fifty gallon drum.\u00a0 Not only has she been to a lot more concerts than I have, she has the ability to recall a lot of the details for many of them.\u00a0 Instead of asking her, \u201cHave you seen this band?\u201d I should just ask her, \u201cWhen and where did you see this band?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We started our latest \u2018talking music session\u2019 discussing her favorite band, Boston.\u00a0 This led us to a spinoff band fronted by former Boston members called Orion the Hunter.\u00a0 Guitarist Barry Goodreau formed OTH in the mid 1980s and had an MTV hit with the song <\/span>So You Ran<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Boston singer Brad Delp contributed backing vocals to this project while future Boston lead singer Fran Cosmo added guitar and lead vocals.\u00a0 Goodreau and Delp would get together again in the 1990s with a new line up called Return To Zero.\u00a0 It was no surprise to either of us that both Lorraine and I have a solid collection of Boston and Boston spinoff band albums in our collections.\u00a0 The discussion moved on to \u2018no shows\u2019 when Lorraine mentioned she had traveled to Milwaukee to see Boston at the Summerfest grounds.\u00a0 When they pulled in, they were alarmed that there was absolutely nobody there. \u00a0 They turned around and completed their round trip home after seeing nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Upon their return, she called the ticket brokers for a refund and got a surprising reaction:\u00a0 \u201cWhat?\u00a0 What do you mean they didn\u2019t show up?\u201d\u00a0 Lorrain\u2019s party did indeed get their $45 tickets refunded, but minus a two dollar handling fee.\u00a0 Why did this show get canceled and how is it even the ticket sellers had no idea it had been canceled?\u00a0 It is a mystery with no answer. Lorraine didn\u2019t miss out on seeing her favorite band, however, as she was able to catch an outdoor Boston show at a later time.\u00a0 As she described it, \u201cIt was pouring rain, we had on our rain gear and mud boots, and we sang every song at the top of our lungs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I shared my two \u2018no show\u2019 experiences but I was luckier – neither involved a round trip to Milwaukee or the disappointment of seeing no show at all.\u00a0 The first happened in 1970 when I had asked a girl if she would like to see the Four Seasons at Hedgecock Field House on the Northern Michigan University campus.\u00a0 We arranged a double date with my buddy Jim and his girl Deb.\u00a0 I even convinced the folks this would be a good time for me to use mom\u2019s Chevy Caprice for the evening.\u00a0 All was well until it was announced that the Four Seasons had cancelled and were replaced on the bill by Little Anthony and the Imperials.\u00a0 As Jim reminded me recently, the Four Seasons were snowed in on the East Coast and could not fly out.\u00a0 Little Anthony and the Imperials were apparently in Detroit and were booked on short notice (possibly the day before or day of the show) but of course, we knew none of this when we got to the Field House.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I do not recall any mention of an opening act for the Seasons, but we arrived in time to hear the MC introduce a band called The Ravelles.\u00a0 I imagine Little Anthony cost less to fill the bill than the Seasons so perhaps they used the extra to book the Ravelles.\u00a0 This is pure speculation on my part – they very well could have been on the bill but they weren\u2019t mentioned on the posters.\u00a0 I did not know until later that the Ravelles were an Upper Peninsula band.\u00a0 They resembled Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge both in the size of the band and the type of music they played.\u00a0 I was really impressed by their version of George Harrison\u2019s <\/span>While My Guitar Gently Weeps.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>During the change over to the headliner\u2019s set, we agreed the Ravelles had already been\u00a0 well worth the price of admission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The main event was supposed to start at 8:00 pm and Jim recalled the crowd was getting restless when nothing was happening by 8:20.\u00a0 The MC came out and explained the situation and offered a refund to anyone who wanted to leave.\u00a0 Neither of us remember a stampede toward the exits but it was still a strange way to introduce the main act.\u00a0 Imagine you are Little Anthony and you are brought on stage right after an announcement like that.\u00a0 Showman that he was, Little Anthony came out and gave everybody a good natured poke in the ribs.\u00a0 How?\u00a0 They opened the show with a medley of Four Season songs.\u00a0 What a stroke of genius!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What I remembered from their radio play were a couple of the Imperials\u2019 better known tracks.\u00a0 One was the infectious <\/span>Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop<\/span><\/i> and the other was their version of <\/span>Going Out of My Head <\/span><\/i>mashed up with <\/span>Hurt So Bad<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Their more famous tracks were kept in reserve for late in their set, but everything that came off the stage leading up to their familiar hits was great.\u00a0 A small back up band of organ, bass, and drums gave them solid backing and the harmonies were flawless.\u00a0 A lanky guy with dark shades (perhaps the stage manager?) hopped up by the drummer\u2019s kit.\u00a0 There he gyrated and danced and played the tambourine on a few uptempo tracks.\u00a0 He was never introduced and the band seemed to take little notice of their bonus sideshow.\u00a0 Little Anthony was certainly a seasoned performer and we were not disappointed at all when we didn\u2019t get to see the Four Seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My second \u2018no show\u2019 had potential to be a bigger disappointment than not seeing the Four Seasons.\u00a0 Having never seen Deep Purple live, I was excited to see that Rainbow was coming to Lakeview Arena in Marquette.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know much about them but the fact that it was ex-Purple axe slinger Ritchie Blackmore\u2019s band made this a no-brainer show for me to see.\u00a0 I thought it was a bonus because the opening act scheduled was Blue Oyster Cult whom I had gotten to like a lot after seeing them at Lakeview a few years earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first time I saw BOC was in the spring of 1976.\u00a0 REO Speedwagon was the opening act (and a great opening act they were).\u00a0 I took note that their albums would be on my next record store stop.\u00a0 I knew nothing about the band but that never stopped me from going to see an act I was not familiar with.\u00a0 My folks were renting the house they owned next to their Summit Street house to a young Michigan State Trooper and his wife.\u00a0 Earlier on the day of the show, Dad, Mark (the Trooper) and I were having coffee when he said, \u201cI had a strange traffic stop today.\u00a0 Some guy was driving a rental car down US 41 like a bat out of hell.\u00a0 When I stopped him, the paperwork said the car had been rented by Blue Oyster Cult.\u00a0 What in the heck is a Blue Oyster Cult?\u201d\u00a0 I had a lot of fun teasing Mark for never having heard of them.\u00a0 I also had to admit that I had a ticket to their show and didn\u2019t have a clue what to expect.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Michael Bryan Murphy was the lead vocalist in REO at that time and I took away a couple of things about them.\u00a0 First, Murphy had a lion\u2019s mane of curly red hair that made him stand out from the rest of the band.\u00a0 Secondly, drummer Alan Gratzer had the shiniest cymbals on his kit that I had ever seen.\u00a0 I had never seen a drummer wearing what looked like golf gloves while he played, so that was another first.\u00a0 Lastly, guitarist Gary Richrath had all the earmarks of being a star in the making.\u00a0 It was a lot to take in even before the headliners and I thoroughly enjoyed REO\u2019s opening salvo.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Blue Oyster Cult hit the stage with their usual introduction:\u00a0 \u201cOh your feet or on your knees – Blue Oyster Cult!\u201d\u00a0 BOC performed a set of songs I had absolutely no familiarity with.\u00a0 Just the same, it was an enjoyable performance incorporating a light show, a bit of pyro, and a few gimmicks (like singer Eric Bloom shooting what looked like Roman candles over the crowd).\u00a0 Again, I thought, \u201cMore albums I need to collect before I head back to Ontonagon.\u201d\u00a0 BOC seemed happy with the crowd reaction and at one point, Bloom stepped up to acknowledge the crowd saying, \u201cMan, we have to get out of New York more often!\u201d\u00a0 The comment generated a loud roar of approval.\u00a0 I had this show in the back of my mind when I saw they were opening for Rainbow, but I was still excited to see Blackmore and company.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before BOC hit the stage, they announced that, \u201cDue to circumstances beyond their control, Rainbow will not be able to perform tonight.\u00a0 Blue Oyster Cult will perform two sets instead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nI was disappointed, but not surprised as Blackmore had a reputation for cancelling shows.\u00a0 Getting to see two sets of BOC was a fair trade and by now, I was more familiar with their music after listening to their double live album and the last couple of studio records.\u00a0 The only disappointment from this show was the lack of effects used.\u00a0 As the opener, they would not have travelled with the number of lights and other stage props they would\u00a0 normally employ as the headliner.\u00a0 Once they got rolling, it didn\u2019t really matter because the music they pumped out more than made up for the lack of effects.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not all of the effects were left behind.\u00a0 Their latest album had been released a short time before they came back to Marquette.\u00a0 The track that was getting the most attention on the radio was <\/span>Godzilla<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 The crowd reacted with a predictable roar when the <\/span>Godzilla<\/span><\/i> riff started and the whole room was rocking and rolling through the first half of the song.\u00a0 All of a sudden, everything went black – the stage, the arena, everything.\u00a0 My first thought was, \u201cOh great, they blew the power box in the arena.\u201d\u00a0 I was eyeing the closest exit sign (just in case) when drummer Albert Bouchard’s drum solo began rumbling through the pitch black arena.\u00a0 Suddenly, a bank of strobe lights lit up the drummer kit and there was Godzilla himself bashing the drums.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Okay, it was Albert with a massive Godzilla head on and in the strobe lights, he resembled the jerky movements one sees in the old Japanese movies featuring an actor in a rubbery Godzilla suit.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the greatest drum solo (not Albert\u2019s fault – imagine playing the drums with a gigantic Godzilla head resting on your shoulders), but the effect was memorable.\u00a0 Near the end, there was another shorter blackout and when the <\/span>Godzilla <\/span><\/i>riff returned, Albert\u2019s dinosaur head was gone.\u00a0 I never did get a chance to see Rainbow but I was not disappointed with either of my \u2018no show\u2019 concerts.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was one other \u2018no show\u2019 we experienced with my third band, Sledgehammer but we were actually happy to miss this one.\u00a0 We had been offered two weekend gigs at a lounge in Negaunee, but with conditions.\u00a0 To get the second weekend, we had to act as the back up band for a touring solo musician.\u00a0 The deal was supposed to work like this; we would do a set, back up the solo guy for a set, do another set of our own, and then back the solo guy one more time.\u00a0 The other three nights we would be on our own.\u00a0 We actually thought Barry was kidding when he told us the solo guy was Tiny Tim (yes, Tiny Tim of <\/span>TipToe Through the Tulips<\/span><\/i> fame).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We discussed this a long time with our original reaction being, \u201cWhat?\u00a0 Play backup band for freaking Tiny Tim?\u201d\u00a0 In the end, the lure of having four paid nights began to work on our sense of professionalism (\u201cHmm, it would be four paid nights\u2026we are a versatile band and we could do this\u2026who knows, he might be a regular guy who only plays Tiny Tim as his gig,\u201d etc etc).\u00a0 By the end of the week, we told Barry to go ahead and book the job.\u00a0 At the next rehearsal, he had some bad news – Tiny Tim canceled the gig.\u00a0 We were more relieved than disappointed because no matter how much we rationalized doing this job, we never really convinced ourselves it would have been a good idea.\u00a0 We later found out that TT had been in a car accident in Pennsylvania that resulted in the death of one of his traveling companions.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The biggest cancellation that could have been would probably have been The Doors.\u00a0 They were riding high in spite of Ed Sullivan banning them from his show after one appearance.\u00a0 The network executives thought they had convinced the band to not sing the word \u2018higher\u2019 in their hit <\/span>Light My Fire<\/span><\/i>, but Jim Morrison had other ideas.\u00a0 Guitarist Robbie Krieger wrote the song and he was okay with changing one word but when they got to that point, Morrison looked right into the camera and sang the forbidden word.\u00a0 Surviving members of the band (drummer John Densmore and Krieger) still talk about the up and down career they had with the unpredictable Morrison.\u00a0 He could be really good at some shows and really cringe worthy at others.\u00a0 NMU really wanted to book them for a concert but not once his legal troubles started after a Florida concert.\u00a0 Morrison was accused of exposing himself on stage (concert footage would later prove he did not) but the riotous atmosphere that show created killed a lot of their bookings and NMU never tried to book the band.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Steel guitar player David Pearlman appeared in Ontonagon with Lindsay Tomasic\u2019s band Trees.\u00a0 He told the story of the ultimate \u2018no show\u2019 he experienced in his career.\u00a0 He was in Merle Haggard\u2019s band during a period when he, like Jim Morrison, was also quite unpredictable.\u00a0 Some nights he was fine and others he was under the influence enough to give what Dave called \u201ca ragged performance.\u201d\u00a0 One night at a club in the midwest, Haggard stumbled into the club all but knocking over tables and chairs to get to the stage.\u00a0 By the time he got there, the band members were exchanging raised eyebrow looks that said, \u201cOh boy, now what?\u201d\u00a0 Merle strapped on his guitar and played a nearly flawless show.\u00a0 After the last number, he staggered out of the club and disappeared for several months.\u00a0 The tour ended there and a couple of months of shows were canceled.\u00a0 In the end, Haggard resurfaced very much alive (rumors of his death were fairly rampant by then) and resumed his career without offering any explanation for his vanishing act.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thank you again to Lorraine for sharing her music tales.\u00a0 I am already looking forward to hearing more of her adventures the next time I need a trim.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nTop Piece Video:\u00a0 Here is Lorraine’s favorite band live at Giants Stadium in 1979!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For the record, I hate \u2018no shows\u2019.\u00a0 You know, when a band decides to cancel a show for some reason.\u00a0 I have no problem if it happens because someone falls ill or is having a family emergency.\u00a0 Canceling a show due to a hangnail or slow ticket sales is another thing altogether.\u00a0 While a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-from-the-vaults","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3545,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3544\/revisions\/3545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}