Valerie takes us back to the mid-1980s starting with back-to-back concerts as well as her experience at The Lumineers concert just weeks before the Covid shutdown.
Valerie takes us back to the mid-1980s starting with back-to-back concerts as well as her experience at The Lumineers concert just weeks before the Covid shutdown.
Bands Mentioned: Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Black Crows, Jimmy Page, Doobie Brothers.
Venues Mentioned: Poplar Creek (Hoffman Estates, IL), Aragon Ballroom (Chicago, IL), Rosemont Horizon (Rosemont, IL), Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI).
[00:00:00] Charles: Welcome to another episode of Seeing Them Live, a podcast featuring memorable concert stories from live music fans. Everyone has a concert story, and hopefully, one day, we'll hear yours. Today, we're going to hear Valerie's.
[00:00:27] Valerie: And he... Whipped the hat right at me and I didn't think that I would have to like move or jump or scurry to get it because it was clear that he was throwing it at me and wanted me to have it.
[00:00:41] And out of nowhere, some big tall guy came and, and grabbed it, right. It, as I almost caught it and took it.
[00:00:53] Charles: Valerie, thanks for coming on the show. We usually start with just a introduction, and so if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself you know, what you do, and then we'll get into the music piece of it in a minute.
[00:01:08] Valerie: Sure. I, my name is Valerie, and I. I grew up, I was a teenager in the 80s, so music had a very important impact on our lives.
[00:01:21] I have memories of my friends and I taking our bikes to the local record store and spending a lot of time there looking for what we wanted and going back home and listening to our albums. I am a teacher right now and I noticed that a lot of our, I teach eighth grade and a lot of the eighth graders definitely like 80s music and even the obscure musicians Somebody brought up Whitesnake the other day and I would never have thought that a 14 year old Would know that band Whitesnake.
[00:01:56] So that's a little bit about me
[00:01:59] Charles: Okay, and so when you went to the record store, what? Like what kind of albums were you looking for or what in particular? What were you? Buying at that time.
[00:02:11] Valerie: Well, the, I think one of my most clear memories of driving our little 10 speeds to our local record store was called Beautiful Day in LaGrange and was to get Tom Petty's.
[00:02:26] Album, the one with the waiting song on it. I can't remember. It's not Damn The Torpedoes. I think it was the second album. Okay. I'm not sure, but I definitely wanted that album and so I had a mission that time and I remember all of us, it was a tiny little record store that was long. And then it was one of, in one of those buildings that was probably built in the 1920s.
[00:02:52] And so it was just like this long row of albums and we would just spend hours kind of looking. Sometimes you might find something new, sometimes you had a mission like I did this time. And. I remember a friend of ours got the Bruce Springsteen album, the one with Born to Run on it, and we went back to his house.
[00:03:13] I remember it was kind of difficult riding your bicycle, your 10 speed while holding an album, but we managed. And we went to his house and we would just take turns listening to each other's albums that we bought. And we would read the lyrics. So we would look at the cover, you know, the front, the back, we would always be delighted if there were words in the inside or the words on the, on the album sleeve.
[00:03:39] And we would read those and we would just kind of talk about them at the beginning of summer. And then I just remember less clearly of all the other times we did that. And sometimes maybe we'd hear something new and we'd be like, Oh, we've got to go get that. And on our bikes, we went pedaling over to LaGrange.
[00:03:56] Beautiful day record store.
[00:03:58] Charles: Cool. Cool. So some of these albums then that you, you and your friends bought, did you eventually then see these bands live at some point?
[00:04:09] Valerie: Definitely. We saw Tom Petty live and even back in, in those days, I mean, this was before Bruce Springsteen. Made it big with born in the USA, his, his tickets were pretty hard to find.
[00:04:26] So I didn't get to see him until later. But Tom Petty was pretty easy to see at the time. I mean, it's still very popular, but one of my friends managed to get tickets. So we saw Tom Petty and he was just as amazing live as he was on his, on his albums. You know, and when you're younger, I don't think you really understand how much energy is at a live show.
[00:04:52] But by the time I did get to see Tom Petty I did know that I had seen a couple of concerts and the very first concert I ever saw was Peter Gabriel. And it was Shock the Monkey and my friend and I would listen to that album in her basement. That kind of looked, you know, like, like it was a relic from the 1950s, but that's where the record player was and that's where we would play that album.
[00:05:16] So shortly thereafter, I got to see Peter Gabriel and I was pretty blown away. I mean, that's an amazing first concert to see. As a kid, and that's where I first realized, wow, there's a, it's just different. You can't really explain how much energy there is at a concert. And then the very, I was very fortunate to have David, my friends had gotten David Bowie tickets the very next day.
[00:05:46] So, and they were pretty good seats. So we saw David Bowie at what was then called the Rosemount Horizon. So to see Peter Gabriel at Poplar Creek. I don't know what day of the week, it was summertime at a place called Poplar Creek in Hoffman Estates. It's no longer there anymore. And we were in the lawn and one of the parts we liked about it is the sun would set behind the theater and you would, you'd be watching kind of getting ready for the show while the sun is setting.
[00:06:18] And we called it the Poplar Creek Sunset after that, because it was just so beautiful. And then the next day seeing David Bowie at Rosemount Horizon. I mean, two incredible performances back to back. And I, I definitely realized at the time. How lucky, how lucky I was and how amazing both performances were.
[00:06:39] And I remember driving home after David Bowie and talking about cause only one of my friends had gone to see Peter Gabriel, so there was only two of us in the car, we'd saw, we'd seen both concerts and we were kind of comparing and contrasting the show, both amazing but definitely. That being my first to my first and then second show the next day was, there's just no words to explain it.
[00:07:03] Charles: Yeah, that that's kind of funny. That's happened to me where, you know, you buy these tickets so far in advance and then somebody asks you, you know, a month or two later, Hey, you want to go see so and so and you're like, yeah, sure. Okay. I buy tickets. And then next thing, you know, yeah, there's, you're going to two concerts, you know, one, one right after the other.
[00:07:25] So that's yeah, that does happen every once in a while. You, you also, in some of our, the previous conversations you'd mentioned you were at an Aerosmith show, I believe it was. Where did Steven Tyler...
[00:07:41] Valerie: I saw many Aerosmith shows back then.
[00:07:43] Charles: Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, but the one with Steven Tyler, didn't he, he tossed something to you or something?
[00:07:52] Valerie: It was when this, so this show, my friends and I had been when Aerosmith kind of cleaned up a little bit and they had their hit with walk this way with run DMC. So they kind of had a, a second a second...
[00:08:11] Charles: Yeah, they, they're, they're like a resurgence in popularity.
[00:08:14] Valerie: Exactly. Resurgence in popularity. They, they were, they were clean and sober and I think taking things, life a little bit more seriously. And we, we were really kind of impressed by them and we kept, we saw them maybe, I don't know, maybe five, six times.
[00:08:32] And one particular show was at a place called Alpine Valley in, in Troy, Wisconsin, I think
[00:08:40] Charles: East Troy, Wisconsin.
[00:08:41] Valerie: East Troy Wisconsin, and it was, it's pretty far drive, but you know, when you're younger, those things don't really matter to you as much as they do when you're older and Guns and Roses had opened up for them.
[00:08:53] And I remember. Because they were clean and, or Aerosmith was clean and sober. They were not serving any alcohol or they had Alpine Valley not serve any alcohol at this show, like, you know, just, but guns and roses put on an amazing show and then Aerosmith did as well. And we had splurged on the, the concert tickets.
[00:09:15] We wanted to see them up close and we thought. Okay, what the heck? Let's get some really good seats and we wound up paying 50, which we thought was an outrageous amount of money at the time. It was probably 80. Gosh, I don't really know, maybe 88 I'm not sure on the, on the year, but we thought that was outrageous, but it did get us like fifth row center.
[00:09:40] So we were really close and Aerosmith was up there singing, Steven Tyler's doing his thing and, and the encore Bon Jovi came out and he was wearing one of those bicycle riding caps and he, then Steven Tyler, they're singing together, Steven Tyler took it off and he was wearing it. And he looked at the end of the song, he took off the hat and he looked down at the audience and he looked right at me.
[00:10:04] And I swear he made eye contact with me. We were looking at each other for what seemed like a minute, but probably was three seconds. And he whipped the hat right at me. And I didn't think that I would have to like move or jump or scurry to get it because it was clear that he was throwing it at me and wanted me to have it.
[00:10:27] And out of nowhere, some big tall guy came. And, and grabbed it right at, as I almost caught it and took it and everybody...
[00:10:35] Charles: He was behind you. Right?
[00:10:37] Valerie: I don't know. He seemed to come out of nowhere. Like he was really tall. I remember with crazy. It was the late eighties. He had crazy big wild hair and everyone was saying, let her have it, let her have it.
[00:10:52] And he just, he didn't say one word. He just took it and walked away. Yeah. That's, that's what I remember. So I was pretty bummed about that. I was not happy.
[00:11:00] Charles: Yeah, that's yeah, not, not cool, bro. Right? And then like in our previous chats, you had you'd mentioned too that while seeing, I believe the Psychedelic Furs you, you like high fived or did something with Richard Butler, the lead singer, Richard Butler.
[00:11:19] Valerie: So, yeah, our musical tastes, I think in the 80s, you just kind of, no one, I don't think anybody was really stuck in one genre per se. There were so many different genres of music. So yes, while we all, me and my friends liked Aerosmith, I also really liked the Psychedelic Furs, which obviously was alternative.
[00:11:41] Considered new wave at the time. And I, I think when they first came out, they considered themselves more punk, but I, I would classify them more as a new wave. And they were probably, well, I know they were my favorite band and a one friend of mine and I got to see them, I believe it was at the Riviera and...
[00:12:02] Charles: The Riviera in Chicago, the Riviera Theater.
[00:12:04] Valerie: Chicago, yes. And we, you know, didn't get there early. So we kind of had to finagle our way up. Moving through the crowd and back in those days, I don't think people got too rude. Nobody ever really hassled us when we were doing that and we got right in front of the stage back when you could stand right in front of the stage and kind of reach out and touch the performer's legs almost not that we did that.
[00:12:31] But Richard Butler, the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs would, he still does this move where he kind of crouches down, he crosses his legs and crouches down and, and puts his arm, waves his arm back and forth as he's singing. And at this point, that's close enough to touch the audience. And I reached up and I it's like, okay, I grabbed his arm or his wrist. And I got to hold on to Richard Butler's wrist for a little bit.
[00:13:01] Charles: Wow. That's cool.
[00:13:02] Valerie: As a young girl, this is very exciting for me. I thought he was amazing and kind of, like, the shows always had kind of a haunting quality to them and you know, there, there always seemed to be some sort of like he, he really wanted to connect with the audience, but still remained aloof. I don't know how he. He managed to do that, but he did. So you left feeling like you had a connection with him and the band.
[00:13:31] Charles: That's, that's really cool. Yeah, what, what, what year was that? Do you remember approximately? Was that...
[00:13:37] Valerie: That might've been 1986 or '85. I saw them a lot too, so they kind of all run together.
[00:13:47] Charles: And you've just seen them recently at another Chicago venue, the Aragon Ballroom.
[00:13:54] Valerie: Yes.
[00:13:54] Charles: And what, how was, how, what was, was kind of the same or different or?
[00:14:00] Valerie: Yeah, it was just in this past July, 2022. I think, you know, we've all gotten a lot older but I'm, I consider myself very fortunate that they, my favorite band from my teenage years still performs, you know, they're still together.
[00:14:19] I mean, a lot of the, really it's just the singer and his brother. They're the main part of the band and the other band members kind of have come and gone. The horn player they have has been pretty consistent over the last few years, but I feel very fortunate that they still perform and still are interested in putting on a very good show.
[00:14:40] I think they're pretty loyal to their friends and they, the energy was still there. I feel like they're far less aloof, like the trying to kind of put on that air of mystery you know, back in the eighties and in the nineties, there was. Like lots of smoke, lots of lights, you know, where you can't really see him.
[00:15:02] He looked, he appears like he's walking out in fog a lot more drama. And I feel like now he, you know, he just comes out and puts on a really good show. He sings, he sings. But the connection to the audience, I feel, is still very much there. And at some point, towards the end of the show, he was, like, kind of laughing, which I feel like he never smiled back in his old days.
[00:15:25] It was all very serious. And he kind of leered in this shroud of mystery and he would smoke and... Now he doesn't smoke and and goofing around with the horn player and laughing and they're visibly joking around with each other, kind of pushing each other and, but still wanting to, to connect with the audience and making a lot of eye contact.
[00:15:48] And I, and we were up like right there next to the stage. Of course, now there's a barrier and you can't get... Of course, you can't touch them at all and there's security right in front, but still I'm, I feel like I'm very fortunate to be able to see them and make these comparisons and grow old with them.
[00:16:10] Charles: Yeah, that's, that's cool. I, I, yeah, I know what you mean. Like you know, you mentioned the Riviera nightclub theater and yeah, you could get like, you could put your arm right on the stage. Now, yeah, at the Aragon, there's got to be at least 10 feet from the barricade to the stage and you are somewhat, the crowd is removed from getting anywhere near the performer, which yeah, it's kind of a bummer, you know, you, I guess, I guess I can see why they do that, maybe nowadays, I don't know, but it's different.
[00:16:47] Valerie: I can see a performer not wanting people touching me. You know, because back in the day, you can kind of reach out and touch their leg or whatever. And but on the flip side, you know, now with your phone you could, you know, being right up close like that, we got some pretty good video of whatever we wanted to take video of.
[00:17:06] I mean, back in, back in the, before iPhones, you, they would not allow you to bring a camera and they would take it from you. Or if they saw you taking pictures, you could get yourself kicked out of the show. And now it's, you know, they're posing for your, if they see you taking a picture, they're posing. And we got a couple videos of entire songs, which is kind of nice to go back and look at that.
[00:17:30] Charles: We'll hear more from our guests after a short break.
[00:17:37] Would you like to be a guest on seeing them live? If you have a concert story you'd like to share on this podcast, please visit our website at seeing them live. com. Once you're there, click on become a guest in the main menu. Then fill out the form and click the submit button. If you seem like a good fit for the show, we'll contact you via email.
[00:18:03] Everyone has a concert story. Let's hear yours. And now, back to the show.
[00:18:10] Yeah, I've, I've heard, I've read, like, some artists complaining that everybody's watching their... The concert through their phone. But I, I know like it is, it is nice to take a few pictures or some video. I kind of liken it to, you know, going to some like a, a, a kid's birthday party.
[00:18:30] I mean, you usually take pictures or film that everybody's singing happy birthday, but you're still in the event. You're still there. It's not like, you know, you're, you're watching it on TV or something.
[00:18:45] Valerie: I think we were careful to kind of put the phone up, but still watch the show in person. I don't want to see the show through the lens of my camera. I want to see it. Live.
[00:18:57] Charles: Right. Exactly. Exactly. Sparingly, you know, for me, it's nice to go back then because sometimes you don't remember years later, some of the specific details, but, you know, you can, you can review the, the video and the pictures and kind of get you back in, in that space on some of the particulars, even the...
[00:19:19] Valerie: Can you imagine if you had iPhones in the eighties and had all the video from all of those concerts that we saw?
[00:19:26] Charles: Yeah. It's a shame that yeah, I know the Grateful Dead, you know, always would let their fans. Tape, at least audio and then the fans would exchange these bootleg recordings and stuff, which you know, I wish more bands would have let people do that because now it's some bands it's, it's very hard to find any kind of recording of the performance on a particular tour.
[00:19:50] And if you do, you know, the quality, you know, it's some person who is on the down low trying to, you know, record this, this show. Yeah, exactly.
[00:20:02] Valerie: I recently found not just, not just audio, but a video as well of a psychedelic first show. That was the same show that I had seen, but recorded in Germany. And I watched that on YouTube thinking that was pretty, you know, that's about as close as I'm going to get at seeing what I saw back in those days.
[00:20:23] And it was. It was, I think it was done, like they knew what was being recorded. So it was pretty professional, but seeing how young they looked and like, wow. Yeah. I remember, you know, he, the mood, like he, he was pretty consistent in the moves he would make. So that was kind of nice to see. And of course, if you had your own video that you took during that, your own personal experience, it would be even better.
[00:20:49] And I know that we came across just an audio recording of U2 at UIC Pavilion of just audio of U2 singing or playing their. 1983, perhaps?
[00:21:05] Charles: I think it's an '85 recording, which yeah, people listening you should definitely check that out UIC March, I don't know, 23rd, 25th, something like that, but it, it's an incredible recording and yeah, it's fun to listen to.
[00:21:23] Valerie: Before he got... Cause I think live it when they performed at live aid, that really, they were getting big, they were definitely gaining traction. But, the Live Aid show really put them on the map. So, that was just before that happened. And, and they, I mean, he was such a strong singer and such a strong band and, I mean, just listening to the audio is, is pretty amazing.
[00:21:46] Charles: Yeah, they're, they're on fire. Unforgettable fire too, or I think perhaps, I don't know. But well, that, that, those are some very cool stories. And you guys would you'd go with your friends. Somebody would drive usually?
[00:22:02] Valerie: To a concert?
[00:22:03] Charles: Yeah, it would where you wouldn't get dropped off. Let me be one of your friends would drive or how did that? How would that work?
[00:22:08] Valerie: Sometimes it was an older sibling that was nice enough to drive us. I remember when we saw Prince. Well, we had a dilemma, junior year of high school. One friend group had concert tickets to see Prince, who was already huge at the time, with Purple Rain, and he was playing at a big place called Rosemount Horizon, and, or, another friend group had tickets to see U2 not so well known at this time and playing at a smaller venue. I can't remember if it was Aragon Ballroom or I don't remember, but a smaller arena. That was a really tough decision as a 16, 17 year old kid at the time. And we chose Prince and, you know, I'll never know if that was the right decision because I never got to see Prince again.
[00:23:03] I mean, he, he blew us away, you know, being 16, 17 year old girls. Like, I mean, the show was, I mean, we were just, our minds were blown in the car. I don't think we were totally geeked out. But I still wonder. I'm sure that U2 would have put on an equally good show, but I remember for Prince his, her mom, a friend with mom's, mom dropped us off in her station wagon.
[00:23:31] You know, there's maybe six girls and she waited there until after the concert and picked us up. And I think she was, there was a lot of eye rolling because we were so excited and so geeked out. And she was kind of making fun of us in a way like, Oh my God, you guys. And but there was just no way to convey like what we just saw Prince do.
[00:23:54] I mean, the way he played the guitar, his guitar solos. I mean, it was loud. I mean, as a young kid, my ears were ringing for a good chunk of time afterwards and there's just no words to describe what that was like.
[00:24:10] Charles: Yeah, I'm sure it was quite incredible and probably wise of your friend's mom to stay in the parking lot. I couldn't imagine leaving and then driving back two hours later and trying to park. It after the concert was over would be yeah, crazy. But that's, that's that's nice when a parent will do that. Not, not, you know, my friends, not, not all the parents would even want to let them go to a concert, let alone drive them to the venue.
[00:24:38] So very, very cool. Any other things you might want to add Valerie? You know, you, you've obviously bought some concert shirts along the way. Do you still have any of those old shirts?
[00:24:52] Valerie: I do. Actually, I have my Purple Rain Prince shirt.
[00:24:56] Charles: Oh, wow. Okay.
[00:24:57] Valerie: I still have that one that I bought at that concert and do you remember being impressed because Prince wore his little high heeled boots and he was on top of a speaker playing his guitar solo at towards the end of the concert.
[00:25:12] And he jumped off that speaker and it was not a short jump. And I remember we kind of went gasping because we couldn't believe he was jumping off the speaker in his high heel boots like, oh my gosh, is he going to make it? But yeah, I have the, that concert t-shirt from that show. Cause like I said, that was the only time I ever saw Prince and a Psychedelic Furs t-shirt.
[00:25:37] And., this was from maybe Mirror Moves and it was, and I saw this last time I saw them in July, they were selling that. Oh, no, it was I do think it was Mirror Moves. I can't remember. But they still have that same concert... Oh, it was from Talk, Talk, Talk. That's what it was. And they were selling that same t shirt at this last show.
[00:26:03] And that, of course, that was in the later eighties. So I had to get like an extra large cause that's how you were wearing your t-shirts back in those days. But yep, I still have that concert t shirt and lots of ticket stubs, for sure.
[00:26:18] Charles: Okay. So you, yeah, you save your ticket stubs as well.
[00:26:21] Valerie: Definitely.
[00:26:22] Charles: Okay. I do the same thing.
[00:26:24] Valerie: We would carry them around in our purses for a while, just kind of as a memory, you know, like, oh, I don't know, it was something we kind of did.
[00:26:34] Charles: Yeah. I would, I would take a thumb tack and put them on my stereo cabinet. Which was made out of wood and, and paste them up there and look at them before I would go to sleep at night and just kind of remember the concert and stuff. So it's a nice token.
[00:26:51] Valerie: I always put mine in our, in, so after like, okay, in the purse, then you didn't want to lose it. Okay. And then you might have three concert tickets in there. Then I would put them in the mirror on my vanity in my bedroom.
[00:27:05] Charles: Neat, Neat. Yeah, that's, I love you know, every once in a while looking at my concert tickets and then I'm, I'm sometimes alarmed when I can't really remember a particular show, you know, and I have to call one of my friends who I think, based on the musical taste, would've been there with me. And they're like, yeah. And I'm like, oh, okay. And then they fill in the details. But...
[00:27:27] Well, thanks for being on Seeing Them Live, Valerie. Any closing comments you'd like to make about anything in particular? Live music now in the modern age, so to speak?
[00:27:40] Valerie: Yeah, I think well, you know, with the, when you know you become a parent, obviously seeing a concert isn't probably on your list of priorities to do and who can stay out that late when, you know, you're going to be up at five, six in the morning. So we kind of took a hiatus of seeing concerts and right before the shutdown, the COVID shutdown happened, we, my husband and I got to see the Lumineers.
[00:28:08] And we kind of knew, well, you know, it was the January, I believe, right before the shutdown and we're like, Hmm, we don't know if this is safe, but we had the tickets. We were, we bought the tickets in the summer. We're like, this is kind of a big band and we were ready to see them. And. And just going back and, and being in a crowd of people who all love the, or maybe not everybody, but most people are loving the band as much as you and being in an arena with that kind of energy.
[00:28:41] You, it was like, okay, we realized we need to see concert. We need to start seeing concerts again because it really is, there's nothing like it. Seeing the band up close or even, I mean, we, we have decent seats. We weren't that close. But when the band was singing the song called and Angela, the lead singer did come down and went into the audience.
[00:29:06] And went up on, if you're on his right up into the audience and we were thinking, well, maybe he's going to come up on our side too, which was on the app, we were on the opposite side and he did, and he's singing the whole time and he came up by us and maybe a couple feet away, maybe five feet away. And he's singing this song and we got a recording of it and he's wearing his velvet blue jacket over this shirt, and kind of being, I mean, here we are grown adults and we were still completely starstruck and pretty moved by the whole experience itself. So I think the lesson we learned was we need to start seeing more concerts.
[00:29:57] Charles: Yes, I agree, you know, as you get older and, and with work and family, it's harder to get out and, do the kinds of things you did when you were, you know, 20 years old and the band doesn't come on till 11 o'clock at night, for instance. You can't really... I guess you can, but it's, it's, it's a rough next morning with the family and stuff.
[00:30:16] So, all right, well, those are some pretty cool, authentic stories. Enjoyed chatting with you and maybe we can do this again sometime in the future.
[00:30:30] Valerie: Sure. I would love to. All right.
[00:30:32] Charles: Thanks, Valerie.
[00:30:33] Valerie: Thanks for having me.
[00:30:33] Charles: Appreciate it.
[00:30:34] Valerie: No problem.
[00:30:35] Charles: See ya. Bye. Bye.
[00:30:39] That's a wrap for our show. I want to thank today's guests for sharing their concert stories with us. Make sure to check out our show notes at seeingthemlive.com for links to websites, photos, and other artifacts mentioned in the show. I also want to thank my producer, Doug Florzak.
[00:30:59] The theme music for the show was composed by Doug, and is featured on his album, Flagstone. If you have a concert story you'd like to share on our podcast, please visit our website and click on Become a Guest in the main menu. Then fill out the form and click the Submit button. If you seem like a good fit for the show, we'll contact you via email. I guess it's time to head for the exits. We'll see you next time on seeing them live.