We hear from another Concert Mom as Summer describes her experiences seeing artists like Alanis Morrissette, Tyler Joseph, and Taylor Hawkins. She also describes what happens when Till Lindeman and Rammstein gets too close to a flamethrower.
Summer recalls the first time she saw Alanis Morrissette; it was September 1, 1996 and Taylor Hawkins was on the drums. She would see Taylor Hawkins one last time with the Foo Fighters at Chicago's Wrigley Field, but this time as a Concert Mom. She also describes a close encounter with Tyler Joseph and the unusual way in which Till Lindeman and Rammstein got attention on stage.
BANDS MENTIONED: 21 Pilots, Alanis Morrissette, Alice in Chains, David Grohl, Foo Fighters, Gwen Stefani, Local H, Metallica, Nirvana, No Doubt, Pantheon, Rammstein, Stone Temple Pilots, Taylor Hawkins.
VENUES MENTIONED: Aragon Ballroom (Chicago), Shoreline Amphitheater (Mountain View, CA), New World Music Theater (Tinley Park, IL), Wrigley Field (Chicago).
[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 Summer's.
[00:00:25] Summer: The thing that they're really known for is the guy literally sets himself on fire on the stage and that's part of his like, his opening act. So, as soon as that happened, I mean, the whole place went, I mean, insane.
[00:00:50] Charles: Summer welcome to Seeing Them Live. Thanks for coming on the podcast and just as a brief introduction, you're a nurse practitioner for a pediatric surgeon, I believe, if you want to maybe elaborate just a tad on that.
[00:01:04] Summer: Yes, I'm a nurse practitioner with Pediatric Orthopedics. I'm a part of a team of four surgeons and we have two nurse practitioners and soon to be starting a physician's assistant. And we primarily take care of kids between, you know, newborn to 18 years of age. With all, a range of pediatric orthopedic concerns.
[00:01:30] Charles: And , you're going to get your PhD, right?
[00:01:33] Summer: Yeah, actually, it's a doctorate in nursing.
[00:01:36] Charles: A doctorate, okay.
[00:01:38] Summer: Yeah, it's the highest level of nursing practice. So, I will not be a medical doctor. I will primarily be a doctor of nursing practice. And then also, I'm going to get a certification for primary care. I already have a certification for acute care right now.
[00:01:59] Charles: I see. Well, that's pretty impressive. As, as is your list of concerts you've been to.
[00:02:05] Yes. So I always like to start usually with you know, like your first concert, which I believe it was Alanis Morissette on September 1st, 1996. And you went with a bunch of your friends and tell us why you'd maybe pick that first concert and the circumstances surrounding it.
[00:02:30] Summer: Sure. Sure. So, we actually grew up in Southern California and my junior year of high school, we moved back to Illinois. This is the state where I'm born. And we had basically the people I hung out with were more into alternative music, and I really didn't know much about that genre. We kind of grew up with your typical, you know, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson type of...
[00:03:02] Charles: Like top 40 stuff, maybe?
[00:03:04] Summer: Yeah, top 40. And so when I came into town, my cousin Andrea introduced me to Q101, which is the biggest alternative station in the Chicagoland area. And, so, when Alanis Morissette came out, honestly, she was one of my first CDs that I ever bought. And, I just fell in love with her style. She had really raw lyrics and just connected with her in many ways. And so when she came around to do her first concerts, we got tickets through I believe it was Ticketmaster. And one of my friends, we went up to the mall and got tickets and we were able to go.
[00:03:52] Charles: Cause you were like in high school at this point and that CD was, was that Jagged Little Pill? Was that the... Okay.
[00:04:00] Summer: That was the first CD and I was 17 in 1996 that September and going into my senior year in high school. And so this was my first concert.
[00:04:20] Charles: Did you guys have, like, lawn seats or reserve seats, or?
[00:04:24] Summer: Oh, we had lawn. We did not have the money to go crazy.
[00:04:30] Charles: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:32] Summer: And we drove together, I think two cars, down to Tinley and parked in the big lot and walked in. Honestly, that was my first big concert. So, I didn't really know what to expect.
[00:04:47] Charles: And you had sent me some video of that on YouTube, that exact show. Which is pretty cool. It looks like it's the video of like one of those jumbotrons, maybe somebody was videoing and yeah, it's I don't know. Just the way she moves around the stage and stuff was, I don't know, you can't kind of take your eyes off of her sort of thing, you know, she's very engaging and just you can, you can just see the emotion in that video you know, coming, coming through. So, it must have been pretty cool to see that live.
[00:05:21] Summer: Yeah, pretty cool. She, I guess I didn't know this until later, but she was the pop star in Canada before putting out this album and she really started to go in a different direction and wanted to get away from that typical 90s pop. And, you know, her record label let her go and she came to LA and got signed with a new, actually Madonna's record label, and they allowed her to put out this really raw, honest album.
[00:06:00] So, you know, she came out on stage, no makeup, hair flying, grungy look. I mean, it was not, it was in your face. Not what we normally expect.
[00:06:13] Charles: Yeah, that's a good way of describing it. When I watched the video, I was like, wow, she is like... she's out there, you know, just putting it out into the audience. And it's, it's really cool.
[00:06:25] Summer: And her voice is flawless. I mean, she could project she, you know, you did not hear any issues with sound. Her band was fantastic. I know you wanted me to kind of. some of her band members as well.
[00:06:40] Charles: Yeah, yeah. You had pointed that out and I had, I had no idea of you know, some of the band members were, I think they, they toured with her and, and such. Right?
[00:06:50] Summer: Yeah. Yeah. She interviewed band members because they recorded the album without a band. And so when she went on tour, they actually had to have people come in and interview and practice for her. And she picked Tyler Hawkins, which is the drummer who eventually went on to play with the Foo Fighters.
[00:07:15] Charles: Yeah, you had, you'd mentioned that and I'd like, we'll, we'll come back to him in a, in a bit here, just kind of bookmark him for the time being. Were there any other members in the band of that notoriety, their careers.
[00:07:30] Summer: I don't know their specific names, but I think they, the bass player they actually hired was not the original one she chose. They actually brought in the wrong guy. And this guy had a really great background with jazz and blues. And it actually helped them out because they had a lot of neat riffs with, like, more of a soul inspiration jazz vibe. It was a good fit, and I think after she met him personally, she couldn't get rid of him. She decided he was really a good asset to the concert.
[00:08:14] Charles: Yeah. So, then like after that concert I'm just kind of looking at my notes here. So, that was September then in December 12th of that year, you went to a Stone Temple Pilots concert, with Local H and one of Chicago's very own famous basketball players also came out at the beginning of the show was it ?
[00:08:37] Summer: Yes. Yes. My cousin, Andrea and I got tickets and I didn't really know who they were. So, I got a CD real quick and then played them over and over on repeat. So, when we got to the concert, we actually got four seats. Well, it was more of like open floor and we got real close to the stage and right at the opening act, once the music started, Dennis Rodman came out.
[00:09:05] We didn't know it was him because he was dressed as the Grim Reaper. He had this big, you know sword in his hand and he started dancing. And then all of a sudden, he took his outfit off and everybody knew it was him. I don't think he had a shirt on. He's this big guy, hair all dyed and tattooed. And he did stick around for the rest of the show. I remember the lead singer getting put up on his shoulders. And doing a song literally on his back. So, that was cool.
[00:09:43] Charles: Yeah. It makes sense. Like a couple of weeks before Christmas to come out on stage as a grim reaper. Right?
[00:09:48] Summer: Right.
[00:09:49] Charles: Why not? You know? Oh my goodness.
[00:09:52] Summer: And that was our first real experience in the pit with a ton of crazy aggressive people pushing around, trying not to get knocked down.
[00:10:04] Charles: Yeah.
[00:10:04] Summer: It was pretty intense.
[00:10:06] Charles: Yeah. I know that that's like the thing with, mosh pits. After a while you kind of know who to stay away from.
[00:10:12] Summer: Right.
[00:10:13] Charles: And you kind of stay on the outskirts of it if you can, you know. But yeah, it's a different experience for sure.
[00:10:20] Summer: For sure.
[00:10:21] Charles: So, if we go back then, Summer, or revisit this Foo Fighters concert at Wrigley Field just recently, not too long ago. Of course, Taylor Hawkins was there playing the drums. So, that was, I guess your second time seeing him live.
[00:10:41] Summer: Yeah.
[00:10:42] Charles: And I know you're a big Foo Fighters fan but I believe that was your son's first concert that he attended. So, tell us, tell us a little bit about that, how that was, where you were sitting.
[00:10:54] Summer: All right. Well, I have never been to a concert at Wrigley and I think that was one of my ultimate goals was to get to a concert at Wrigley. So, when Foo Fighters came around, I said, we are absolutely going. So, I got two tickets and I thought, you know, this might be a good time to bring Warren to a concert.
[00:11:16] It's outdoors. We actually have seats. He may recognize a couple of the songs and we actually ended up getting another ticket for my sister who lived a few blocks from Wrigley as well. So, we got there way too early. We were sitting there for about an hour before the openers even started, so he was getting kind of restless.
[00:11:40] Charles: Yeah.
[00:11:40] Summer: And then you know, when they actually came out on stage, it was intense. We, I had no idea and people immediately started smoking joints and started making out and I said, Oh boy, this is a little too much.
[00:12:00] And you know, David Grohl was like, oh God, he was...
[00:12:05] Charles: He's dropping some F bombs. Yeah, F bombs coming out of his mouth .
[00:12:08] Summer: Everybody loved it, but my son was a little traumatized.
[00:12:13] Charles: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:12:15] Summer: We made it about three quarters of the way, and then I said, you know, let's get going. And we got out of there. But Taylor Hawkins was the drummer and I'll never forget. You know, he actually does songs, he'll come up and sing, David Grohl got back on the drums.
[00:12:35] So, you know, he really, I don't know, he could have been a lead singer, a star in his own right. Yeah. And unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago.
[00:12:47] Charles: Yeah. That, that was a really, really unfortunate.
[00:12:51] We'll hear more from our guests after a short break.
[00:12:58] 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. If you seem like a good fit for the show, we'll contact you via email.
[00:13:24] Everyone has a concert story, let's hear yours.
[00:13:27] And now, back to the show.
[00:13:32] So, that kind of leads me into this next I guess it's an observation. I would categorize you, if I could as, as what I call a concert mom, since I, since I have one myself, my, my mom is a concert mom.
[00:13:47] Yeah. She took me to see the Eagles when I was 11 and then she would take me and my friends to all of these concerts, which in hindsight, as you kind of described as a kid, you know, you're in a situation that's not of course, within your control. I mean, the security guards and things to a certain extent, ensure your safety, but there are certain things you cannot, factor in.
[00:14:12] Yeah. So, you and Warren, your son have become, or are 21 Pilots fans.
[00:14:22] Summer: Yes.
[00:14:22] Charles: Yeah. Yeah. You've, you've seen the band five times, right?
[00:14:27] Summer: Yes.
[00:14:28] Charles: And when was the last time you saw them with Warren? Was that the first time he, he saw them then?
[00:14:36] Summer: No. We did see them twice together once, right before the pandemic in December of 2019, and the summer of 2021, I believe, was the last. And yeah, they're much more family friendly, I mean, no swearing. Great lyrics, you know, lively crowd, but everybody is either with family or teenagers. It's, it's nothing that you would it really isn't comparable to some of the other bands I've seen. But yeah, I think he enjoyed it. The first time we went together, we dressed up, we had you know, we got t shirts, we got beanies, we put tape on our shirts to be a part of the crowd. And that was actually at the Aragon. So, we took the L from my sister's house and Wrigley and, I saw some interesting characters on the L on the way there.
[00:15:43] Charles: Yeah, the whole experience. So, I wasn't aware of this, dressing up kind of thing, for 21 Pilots show. So, when you put tape on, is it like, it's duct tape or masking tape or just
[00:15:55] Summer: Colored duct tape. You put it around your arms. You put stripes on your shirt. I think it's just to show your part of their crew.
[00:16:03] Charles: Yeah, that's cool. I wasn't aware of that.
[00:16:06] Summer: It's fun. It's, it's fun to connect with the people. And it was funny when the lead singer came through the crowd, I actually was able to, kind of do a high five with him.
[00:16:22] Charles: Yeah. You sent me some video and, what I thought was interesting. He's like kind of sprinting through the crowd, like totally unimpeded. They kind of parted the sea, so to speak of people to, to I guess, get to the stage .
[00:16:35] Summer: And I totally wiped Warren's head with his sweat. I'm like, you're blessed now, child. It's so, he was so mad.
[00:16:44] Charles: Gross, mom. Oh, that's great. That's fantastic. Do you guys have plans on going to any other concerts coming up this summer? Anything on the horizon?
[00:16:55] Summer: Not concerts. Well, Warren is actually starting to play guitar and bass. He's in jazz band at school. He's doing some online lessons and piano lessons. So, I can tell he's definitely musically inclined and, I want to support him in whatever way he wants to go with that. You know, cause obviously his dad was big into music. So...
[00:17:23] Charles: yeah. Your late husband, Josh which I wanted to bring up played in a band called Pantheon. And they actually released an EP of four songs. And on the song Betrayal your husband, Josh actually is responsible for writing the music for that particular song.
[00:17:50] And he played rhythm guitar, I believe, right. , in the band. And I would characterize them, and I'm no music critic but I would call them kind of like a heavy metal sort of band. And you, would go to some of their practices from what I understand when you guys first kind of knew each other as friends or something, or how did that evolve?
[00:18:13] Summer: Well, back in high school my good friend Kelly was actually dating Josh. They were in the marching band together and they both played flute and he actually did play rhythm and bass guitar in the high school jazz band as well. So, when I started hanging out with Kelly and Amy and Andrea. Actually, Andrea's husband was a bass player, and he met up with Josh and a couple of other guys before Pantheon, and they tried to start a Christian band, Christian rock band, and those were the practices I went to, like, late senior year that summer, and I have a couple of pictures of us all down in the basement while they're jamming.
[00:19:05] So, that was fun, but unfortunately, we lost touch over the next, you know, college years and reconnected in our late 20s. When we ended up, getting married and having Warren.
[00:19:20] Charles: Yeah. So, I would imagine he is familiar with Josh's music in some degree or...
[00:19:27] Summer: To some degree. We have probably every CD and tape that he's ever owned. He also has the early, early iPods with a ton of metal music and he has a big system that we put downstairs. So, we could play these CDs at any time. It's just hard because kids these days, they don't really connect with metal music. They're always, you know, listening to pop and things online through YouTube and, you know, the influencers.
[00:20:04] So, metal isn't as like popular. So, when he's ready, I think we'll, I'll maybe introduce him to more. Like we, we do listen to Metallica and. Nirvana, Alice in Chains. I put that kind of level of hard rock on, but he's, you know, it's hard for me to even tolerate some of the hardcore metal.
[00:20:28] Charles: Yeah. I'm the same way. I guess from a musicianship standpoint, I can appreciate it, but it's too much for me and I like metal, but yeah, you can, you can get pretty far out there depending on, you know, what genre.
[00:20:41] So, I appreciate you talking about Josh a little bit summer and speaking of like I don't know, maybe out of control music and concerts, perhaps you went to this thing called Rockstock in 1998 and I don't know, it just kind of sounds like it got way out of hand. Do you want to chat about that a little bit?
[00:21:04] Summer: Yeah. We were pretty new to doing concerts and, you know the concert right before that was actually a little Lilith Fair with your mom and California. So, it was pretty chill, pretty easy. But when my cousin, Andrea, again, she's the one who kind of gets me into these situations, but she came out and she said, let's go to Rockstock.
[00:21:28] And it's a new concert. It actually, I think it was the third year in 1998, they did it. And there was the main stage and then a couple of side stages. And all I remember was it was pretty hot. It was. It was very crowded and...
[00:21:46] Charles: Where was this Summer? What was the venue? Do you recall?
[00:21:49] Summer: It was at the New World Music Theater in Tinley again.
[00:21:52] And just the crowd was different. It was more of a primarily, upper teen, lower 20 males who were pretty, pretty pumped up, and a lot of beer flowing. And I just remember the headliner was Rammstein and they're this metal band from Germany, I believe.
[00:22:16] Charles: Yeah.
[00:22:17] Summer: And I think the thing that they're really known for is the guy literally sets himself on fire on the stage. And that's part of his, like his opening act. So, as soon as that happened, I mean, the whole place went. I mean, insane. They went berserk and, it was almost frightening because people were throwing anything and everything, water, beer, everything that anybody could throw. So, we were trying to like duck and cover just to stay and listen to the music because really, we couldn't do much else. We couldn't really even get out of there. So, it was pretty intense, not my favorite by any means. You know, looking back at the other people that were there, like Candlebox and Local H Stabbing Westward. I wish I had a better memory of them because they're so good.
[00:23:16] The Black Crows. I think a few members of Queen came together and performed, which was a big deal. A lot of people wrote up about that. I just, I feel like that whole thing got over, you know, it's just, it turned into kind of a disaster in the end, but it was an experience. It was fun.
[00:23:38] Charles: Yeah. Depending where you are you know, it just gets really sort of dangerous and out of control. And yeah, it's not fun. You can't, well, you can't enjoy the concert cause you're worried about your safety, you know? So, you're kind of looking around, gee, I hope nobody hits me in the head with a metal water bottle or something. That does happen from time to time. Because the Lilith Fair going from the Lilith Fair to that is like on the opposite ends of the spectrum, I would imagine.
[00:24:07] Summer: Absolutely.
[00:24:08] Charles: The one other observation you made that I thought was neat, you know, and I asked, like, what was your most surprising concert? Because I've had some where I wasn't expecting anything from an opening act or something, and they just kind of blow you away and in some cases blow away the main act, you know.
[00:24:27] But you answered it differently. You said you know you always managed to communicate with your friends before cell phones and texting and stuff and, and never get lost. And I just thought that was kind of a, an interesting observation. How you're with your friends and you still managed to meet up.
[00:24:49] Summer: I think the best example was when I was living in Northern California and we had the Gwen Stefani tour when she went by herself away from No Doubt and we were at the Shoreline Amphitheater outdoor. It was pretty dark and I, you know, came in, I had a sense of where my friends were, but I was running late.
[00:25:17] And I saw my friend, we grabbed hands and the lights went out and it was pitch black. I mean, there would have been no way that we would have been able to find each other. There was, and I think we did have like a flip phone back then it was 2007. So, but even before that, you know, how did we even find our cars? Like, you know, you get out in these big parking lots and you just figure it out.
[00:25:49] Charles: Yeah, yeah. It is incredible how you were able to meet up with your friends and find them and even in the lawn or something. You're like, oh, there's so and so, you know. But, yeah, so that was I thought that was an interesting observation communication. Yes. And you also mentioned, like, something along the lines of how would I say this?
[00:26:11] Let me see you know, where you mentioned going to concerts completely sober without the interference of alcohol and drugs. And that, that also struck me too. Like I never have understood people who get totally, you know, annihilated. What's the point of going to the concert? You know what I mean?
[00:26:35] Summer: Yeah, you can't remember you, your friends are dragging you out trying to get you the car. I mean, the drinks are so expensive.
[00:26:44] Charles: Yeah, nowadays, you have to make a car payment to buy a round of beers.
[00:26:48] We're coming to the end of our time, Summer. Anything you'd like to add? Any parting words or something we may have skipped over.
[00:26:58] Summer: I just want to keep going to concerts. I feel like I've transitioned from concerts to more travel, and I got to get back to seeing bands and also I would like to combine travel with seeing my favorite bands as well. Like going to see Lollapalooza in Sweden Stockholm would be really cool. Something like that. I think that's my long term plan.
[00:27:26] Charles: Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I went to a Reading Fest in England once and that crowd was so polite, you know, everybody was sitting down and it was, it was just kind of funny but it is a little different experience, you know, the culture and the crowd, but you'll, you know, I'm sure you'll pick up on that when the day comes, but...
[00:27:47] Yeah, I just want to thank you for being on the show here on Seeing Them Live. And I thought it's kind of a tribute to Josh, we'll play out the episode with his song Betrayal featuring some of his music that he was responsible for writing and playing. So, thanks again, Summer.
[00:28:06] Summer: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
[00:28:08] Charles: Yeah, we'll have to do it again sometime. Okay. All right. See ya.
[00:28:29] The Song Betrayal by Pantheon: "My love for you was not enough. You bailed when it got too rough. Now I'm forced to face the world alone. With you it is just lust and war, where is the love I'm looking for, you've cast me into the vast unknown. How can you love somebody else, when you can't even love yourself, your self-esteem is smaller than your mind. Your accusations running wild. Your indecisive like a child. What is it that you expect to find?"
[00:30:33] Charles: 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. 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.
[00:31:37] We'll see you next time on Seeing Them Live.
CORRECTION: At time stamp 18:35, Summer stated "Andrea's husband was a bass player..." rather than "Andrea's boyfriend was a bass player," in reference to her cousin Andrea.