In this episode of Seeing Them Live, host Charles welcomes back Paul Peterson, a retired technology manager and lifelong audiophile who hosts the podcast 'An Avid Listener.' They delve into the intriguing topic of how bands evolve through lineup changes and the impact these shifts have on live performances. With personal anecdotes and examples from renowned bands like The Beach Boys, The Doors, AC/DC, and Grand Funk Railroad, they explore whether it's the original members or the music itself that draws fans to concerts. The discussion also touches on tribute bands, live recording experiences, and the importance of researching band lineups before attending shows. Join them for a deep dive into what truly makes a live music experience memorable.
In this episode of "Seeing Them Live," host Charles welcomes back Paul Peterson, a retired technology manager and lifelong audiophile who hosts the podcast 'An Avid Listener.' Together, Charles and Paul explore the complex world of bands performing with significantly changed lineups. The conversation was sparked by Paul's recent concert experiences, including seeing Alan Parsons and the Doobie Brothers with almost entirely new members, which led him to question what makes a band authentic and what concertgoers are really seeking when they buy tickets based on a famous name.
Charles and Paul examine numerous examples of lineup changes with varying outcomes. They contrast successful transitions like AC/DC replacing Bon Scott with Brian Johnson and Iron Maiden swapping Paul Di'Anno for Bruce Dickinson, with more questionable situations like Grand Funk Railroad touring without Mark Farner, the Beach Boys performing with only Mike Love, and Queen continuing with Adam Lambert. The discussion reveals how fans often purchase tickets unaware of major personnel changes, raising questions about transparency and the power of brand names in the music industry.
Paul encourages listeners to research bands before attending concerts and seek experiences that offer more than nostalgia. He emphasizes the value of artists sharing stories and offering unique performances rather than simply recreating studio recordings, praising innovative approaches like Steely Dan performing entire albums in sequence and intimate acoustic sets from aging rockers. While lineup changes are inevitable, the key is transparency and delivering an experience that justifies the ticket price—whether through musical excellence, storytelling, unique venues, or discovering new bands at smaller, more intimate settings.
BANDS: AC/DC, Alan Parsons, Beach Boys, Beatles, Black Sabbath, BoDeans, Brian Auger, Doobie Brothers, Duke Tomato and the All Stars, Eagles, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Flaming Lips, Fleetwood Mac, Gov't Mule, Grand Funk Railroad, Grateful Dead, Heart, Iron Maiden, James Gang, Johnny Reno and the Sax Maniacs, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin Two, Motley Crue, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rolling Stones, Scorpions, Steely Dan, Super Tramp, The Doors, The Who, Toto.
VENUES: Arcadia, Auditorium Theater, Candlestick Park, Chicago Stadium, City Winery, Empty Bottle, Fitzgerald's, Hollywood Bowl, House of Blues, Living Room, Riot Fest, Shea Stadium, The Sphere.
[00:00:24] Paul: Beach Boys. There are no boys. It's Beach Boy. Mike Love is about the only original member. Now, this is all natural, right? As our bands get older. But, for me, it depends on what you're going for, right? Do you want to hear a live band play the hits, or are you going to see some of the originators and how they interact and advance their craft or their art or do something new.
[00:00:44] Charles: My guest today is Paul Peterson. Paul is a retired technology manager and lifetime audio file. He is the creator, host, and producer of the podcast An Avid Listener. Paul was a previous guest on Seeing Them [00:01:00] Live, and you could check out his episode from Season 2 titled McCartney Tosses Paul a pack of Cigarettes.
[00:01:08] Paul, welcome back to Seeing Them Live.
[00:01:10] Paul: Yeah, it's great to pick up where we left off.
[00:01:12] Charles: Yeah. This was your idea for this episode. And when I've started to look into it more, I was like, oh my goodness. Your idea is going to see bands that have experienced a lineup change.
[00:01:25] Paul: Yeah.
[00:01:25] Charles: And what I've found is, sometimes you know about these changes and, a lot of times in my case, I didn't know and some can be upgrades, and some are not. And sometimes, they remain status quo even with these changes. But what I found interesting and common with this whole idea, is that if you're not like a super fan or really into a band, you probably could be unaware of a lineup change that's happening when you go to see these bands live.
[00:01:55] I have examples of these from when I was young and I guess I could say, well, I didn't know any better. I just wanted to see this band that I was hearing on my parents' stereo and radio in the car. But, you got me thinking about this. And in 2025, last year, this happened to me actually several times when I started looking into it.
[00:02:15] Paul: Yeah, so a lot of your guests have specific concerts that they went to over a period of time, right, their lifetime and so forth. And you and I talked about some of my early experiences with The Doors and so forth in the sixties and that's all well and good, but I started to see this trend and when I saw an Alan Parsons concert this past summer, and there was nobody on that stage that had any connection with the recorded albums.
[00:02:38] Charles: Hmm.
[00:02:39] Paul: And I look back, and it's all pretty well documented. There's one guy who maybe appeared on a record, so it's Alan Parsons. And he wasn't particularly participative, like for example, Paul McCartney upfront singing, leading the band, right? And everybody behind him is pretty much unknown to us, right? Good, good band. It's all Paul. I was offered a chance to go and I. said, why I walked away from the concert. It's Paul, he's a cover band at this point, right? And that's a little harsh.
[00:03:01] But Alan Parsons, nobody was connected with the records except him. And he was strumming a guitar. One of the roadies, he came out and said, you wanna push this up? And he gave him the thumbs down, like pushed the volume down. So his guitar was not featured at all. And I thought, well, this is kind of a ripoff. And then I was standing in line and somebody said, what do you think? Isn't this great? I kind of busted a bubble and I said, well, just loud to me.
[00:03:24] And I said, you know what, that's rude. You're here. You're enjoying it. Great. Let me buy you a beer and go back. But then I started to think about, I was invited to a Doobies concert. There was only one Doobie in there and he was not one of the more vocal Doobies, he wasn't like Baxter, Michael McDonald. And some people consider him a Doobie Brothers and some don't, right? So you say, hmm.
[00:03:42] Another example. This all happened in the last couple of months. Grand Funk. I said, now there's my bellwether. When is Grand Funk touring? I dunno if you're familiar with them, but Right. Three man Band out of Flint. Kind of a Bob Seger, Mark Farner, the lead guitar, absolutely tremendous. Mel Brewer and Don Brewer and Mel were his backup band. But the band [00:04:00] is touring. They own the rights to the name. But, there's no Mark Farner.
[00:04:03] Charles: Hmm.
[00:04:03] Paul: Well, is that a group? You know? And then so one of my friends went to the concert, a Grand Funk fan. He didn't realize that Mark Farner wasn't part of it. And I went, wow. So you just went there based on the names. So that's the power of the brand, right? The bringing these names. But there's Mark Farner who's got his own little side thing, but he can't use the name Grand Funk.
[00:04:19] Beach Boys. There are no boys. It's Beach Boy. Mike Love is about the only original member. Now, this is all natural, right? As our bands get older. But, for me, it depends on what you're going for, right? Do you want to hear a live band play the hits, or are you going to see some of the originators and how they interact and advance their craft or their art or do something new. So, I don't know, it was very troubling to me, 'cause I didn't want it to make it sound negative.
[00:04:43] Charles: Yeah.
[00:04:44] Paul: But, I thought it's sort of like when you go to a concert, it kind of got me thinking, what am I hoping to get? You know, what's a good experience for me? So when you learned like that, the Flaming Lips, the guy wasn't there. And you're an avid fan, so what was your thought? I mean, how did you feel about the experience then?
[00:04:59] Charles: I had a [00:05:00] couple thoughts. One 'cause I read about the fact that, Steven Drozd, he's been in the band for 35 years. He's a founding member. I read about it after the concert in Pitchfork that he wasn't touring with them.
[00:05:12] Now, I went to see the Flaming Lips 'cause I hear they put on a great show and, and they did. It was a fantastic show. But, I was unaware that Steven Drozd was no longer touring with the band. And you go to Wikipedia and you look at the history of these bands, and there have been 17 members of the Flaming Lips.
[00:05:31] Now again. I didn't study this, too deeply, but I would imagine some of those members are just ancillary musicians that come and go. But, to your point, AC/DC, from 1974 to 2026, it was 23 band members. And again, some of these are probably musicians that come and go, but I saw in 1978, AC/DC with Bon Scott.
[00:05:56] Paul: Sure. Okay. His lead. Yeah.
[00:05:58] Charles: And then he [00:06:00] tragically passed away. And Brian Johnson is brought in as a lead singer now, and they come out with Back in Black the album, and it's the second best selling album of all time. So, that was a major change.
[00:06:13] Paul: Yeah, and there were other ones.
[00:06:15] Charles: They carried on and were very, very successful. Same thing, when I saw Iron Maiden, I didn't even know who they were. They warmed up the Scorpions in 1982, and Bruce Dickinson was the lead singer at that time. On the first two albums, Paul Di'Anno was the lead singer, and, they replaced him and then Iron Maiden, that tour, Number of the Beast, that album is one of the best heavy metal albums of all time. And then they also went on to great success from there. But as a fan, I didn't know what I was seeing and then, researching it later, I find, oh wow, they had a different lead singer on the first two albums.
[00:06:55] But to your point with Grand Funk Railroad, I was reading Geezer Butler's [00:07:00] book. He's the bass player and songwriter for Black Sabbath, called Into the Void, and he talks about how Tony Iommi, the original guitarist from Black Sabbath, was touring as Sabbath in quotes. And they had this vocalist, Tony Martin and Geezer goes on to say that the essence of Black Sabbath was gone. Their albums didn't chart at that point, and they didn't even schedule any tour dates in the US. So yeah, there's successful lineup changes and ones that, aren't successful.
[00:07:31] Paul: The Beatles took Pete Best out very early. So much with AC/DC, if there was a prior vocalist that, which there was, he was gone and Bon Scott came in. But those are fundamental changes as they put the band together, right? One of the things that was kind of a funny, hilarious note was, there was an ad to see Carl Palmer of Emerson Lake and Palmer. I love all of them. And Carl Palmer's in my mind, the greatest rock drummer around. I know that's a highly debatable, but anyway, he's really good. Well it said, an evening with [00:08:00] Emerson Lake and Palmer. And my wife said, she goes, well that's gonna be interesting 'cause two of 'em are dead.
[00:08:04] I went, holy crap. So I go back and I read there isn't a lot of information in the ticket stuff. Like who's the lineup? Say, hey, playing the hits and give an example or featuring Michael McDonald ' cause you're the lead vocalist, but you weren't the Doobie Brothers dude.
[00:08:17] So, it said an evening with Emerson night in Palmer and it said, Carl's got some videotapes and so forth. He's gonna play along we'll use some technology. And I thought, well, this is either gonna be the greatest concert I ever went to, or the most cheesy. And it was at Arcadia in St. Charles. A nice, small, intimate venue and, I was sitting like sixth row without a drummer as a leader of the performance. It's a little heavy 'cause that's the only live instrument, but they played some videos that I had not seen or that were less common and he played along and it was great to see his technique, his speed.
[00:08:47] I had a friend of mine said it was one of the best concerts he's ever been to. I go, wow. So they played homage to these two guys, right? But then you look at like, Led Zeppelin. What did Jimmy Page do when Bonham died? That's it. Without John, there's no [00:09:00] band.
[00:09:00] Charles: So that Emerson Lake and Palmer show, did you find it satisfying or entertaining?
[00:09:05] Paul: Yes. I found it very entertaining because as I said, they had some video. Some of the video production was a little, not cheesy, but just amateurish. But that was rock and roll, videotape or whatever from the late sixties.
[00:09:16] But, he talked a little bit about his craft. He talked a little bit about touring. I think that's one of the things, a lot of bands miss. They don't talk about who they are. Peter Frampton, he didn't talk much about his illness, but he talked about his family and other things that were there and he talked about stories of where he met this fan or that fan and all that.
[00:09:33] It was actually a nice cozy fireside chat with Peter Frampton, but it was billed as Peter Frampton. That was it, and friends. And when you look back at his band, these are touring people with him. They haven't released records. They do studio work. So you know, studio musicians, you had guys like Keltner and Jim Gordon and Claus Warman, right? Maybe Herbie Flowers. People that that basically made their living off of studio work and not so much band work. So, it was very honest. He was the writer. They played his [00:10:00] songs.
[00:10:00] When you get to Roger Waters, he hired a guitarist that looked like David Gilmore. I said, that had to be a conscious effort, right? And of course they didn't get along very well. And the songs he did were all his. It performed, but it was all back up. So, at what point did they become a cover band, you know? Or some of these tribute bands are so note for note, which I think is pretty hard to do, but I'm not sure that I emotionally get what I want out of that. You know, seeing a cover band. Do you have any thoughts about the tribute bands?
[00:10:24] Charles: Well we had a guest, Art Gregg, who, he was just on recently. He, was a big Led Zeppelin fan and his episode is Jimmy Page Calls in Sick, when he saw Led Zeppelin in Chicago at the Chicago Stadium, and, he was telling my producer Doug and I, we should go see this band called Led Zeppelin Two at the House of Blues, their Led Zeppelin cover band, and they had two nights there, both of them sold out. And I was like, huh. So, we went there, we got close to the stage and, you know, I got my fix of Led Zeppelin, I guess. They were very good, [00:11:00] very accurate. One night they play more like acoustic, slower stuff. One night they'll play more harder electric stuff, so they mix them up and the sets aren't the same, 'cause a lot of those people would go to both nights, and it was crazy.
[00:11:14] Paul: That's amazing because you can listen to the note by note, by the experts, right? In your home, in your car. So from that live experience, I guess just hearing it loud. With other people, right? A social function. You're taking your friends, Hey, we're gonna spend four hours listening to this, or two hours, whatever it is.
[00:11:33] Charles: One thing that I wanted to mention, Paul is, a couple years ago, I saw with my friend, the band called Gov't Mule with Warren Haynes. And about halfway through the concert, and I knew this was gonna happen, it turns into The Dark Side of the Mule. And they start playing Pink Floyd songs and I'm like, what the heck? They're gonna play Pink Floyd songs.
[00:11:56] So, Gov't Mule turns into a Pink Floyd cover [00:12:00] band in the middle of the show, and holy cow, they were fantastic. Covering Pink Floyd for, like, I don't know, 20, 25 minutes, half hour or so, was really, really cool. I highly recommend people check them out.
[00:12:14] Paul: I went to a couple of concerts, Steely Dan, so this was before Walter Becker passed away. So you got Don Fagan, Walter Becker, and of course they were a big studio band. I think in their recording history, they used over 90 different session players of all types. 90, to get the sound that they wanted, including guys like Rick Derringer. He's got an amazing bit with him. Jeff Quero, who started Toto. One of my podcasts was that both of those guys play on track four of Katy Lied, and they got their start there, but so, so these guys aren't there.
[00:12:44] But here's what he did. Sometimes formatting of these live events is a little stale. So what Steely Dan did. We're gonna do Katy Lied tonight. We're gonna do Goucho gaucho tomorrow. And so the first part of the show, one of the things that adds to it, when you have trumpets, brass, or choir groups, [00:13:00] or female vocalists, or male vocalists, when you have other supplementary, those are new to the live experience, 'cause many of them may or may not have been the same people as they used on the studio, but he played albums front to cover and then they did like a generic, hits bit at the end.
[00:13:13] And I found that to be an interesting way to hear the record so that Donald would drop a needle and they'd go through the songs live, in sequence, like the album, just like you heard it before, but it was live performance. So they were Steely Dan. He had to get the one or two keyboards instead of his normal eight, right? And you've got a group of people singing harmonies and so forth. I thought that was additive to it.
[00:13:33] Brian May, Queen. So can you think of a band with a more iconic front man than Freddie Mercury? So what have they done? They had Adam Lambert from American Idol. Cheers to them, right? They chose something they tried to do. But at the end of the day, it doesn't carry any weight. But, Brian May went out on a tour, Roger Hodgson of Super Tramp. Super Tramp. So, they just said it's me. And they played the hits in their way, kind of acoustic sets, maybe a little bit more mellow or whatever. And I found those concerts to be [00:14:00] revealing for bands that are a little bit older, right? That they could go through their hits, but they could go through it in a different way. And, they weren't trying to recreate the band.
[00:14:07] Charles: Yeah.
[00:14:08] Paul: You know, Paul McCartney's performance of Carry That Weight in Gold and Slumbers on Saturday Night Live was just an excellent band. I mean, they were tight McCartney's vocal vocals were, you know, fading a little bit. And I'm surprised at how many people have said US vocals suck. I go, wow. That's why you don't go see him. I mean, this is Paul and I'd, seen him before, anyway.
[00:14:27] Charles: Paul, you mentioned the Beach Boys and I did see them in 2025 here last year. They came on right before Jack White at Riot Fest, and I was there to see Jack White.
[00:14:38] Paul: So who was in the Beach Boys?
[00:14:39] Charles: Well, like you said, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. And it was, what's his name? From Full House, Stamos. John Stamos was with them and a whole bunch of other musicians. And, you know, it was fun, you're getting into it and stuff. But, you know, Mike Love is 84 years old and he sounds like an 84-year-old guy singing, but, they played all the [00:15:00] hits and stuff.
[00:15:00] Paul: And, I, had some people say, I went. They were talking about, the Beach Boys were playing at some 4th of July concert, and some people I knew, you know, my age were very excited and I went, oh, come on. But I guess there's a certain quality just to hear that old music again 'cause you don't hear it as much on the radio or something like that I kind of get. Then you had The Who, right? So, the drummer,
[00:15:20] Charles: Keith Moon.
[00:15:21] Paul: Keith Moon passes away. Well, they got Ringo's son to play a lot of it, right? So I thought there was another example. Led Zeppelin stopped and about the same time, and if you look at The Who, there's a whole list of drummers that have played for them at records and studio sessions.
[00:15:35] In the Rolling Stones, it's the rhythm section. How can you have a fill in for a drummer? Well, 'cause you can never compete with Keith Moon but the band kept going. You know, number one, I think people go to hear something new or something unique or learn something about the artist or an artist that has been so polished in the studio, right?
[00:15:52] It's nice to hear them when they're out in the front stage, just them and minimum equipment, right? That is interesting to me, or [00:16:00] maybe a new approach from a band. But to hear people just lay down cover band stuff, I don't know. Like the Pink Floyd stuff, you know, I get it. I don't know, but I, I'm for some reason troubled by it.
[00:16:09]
[00:16:35] Charles: And like, you were talking a moment ago about performers talking and telling stories. And I think, in the case of when I saw The BoDeans just recently at City Winery in Chicago, we were there with some friends celebrating a friend's birthday and they come out on stage. And my wife, who's a bigger BoDeans fan than me, she notices, she actually said, it looks like there's a BoDean missing. And there was. So you have [00:17:00] Kurt Neumann, who is the vocalist, lead guitarist, and the Sam Llanas I guess is the other guy. They're like the founding members.
[00:17:08] And Sam was brought up or allegations of sexual abuse, so he's not in the band anymore, but when they would play, Kurt Neumann would say, I wrote this song when I was 22 years old, or 23. And, so he was like prefacing a lot of the songs. Like he wrote these songs because I guess this guy, Sam, the other guy, he'll go out touring sometimes as The BoDeans.
[00:17:33] Paul: Yeah.
[00:17:33] Charles: I don't know how many people in City Winery were aware of that. I certainly wasn't. And the people we were with, I don't think they cared, 'cause it was the BoDeans and they played, you know, at least the one guy was there and played all their hit songs. And it was fun, you know.
[00:17:48] Paul: The other one that a lot of my friends have gone to, they recommend The Sphere in Las Vegas. Who's ever performing there. It's an experience of, you know, movement and so forth. And you got the Eagles. So they're now at this point, I don't know that they have a new record out or not. [00:18:00] I don't consider Joe Walsh an Eagle, for example.
[00:18:02] I knew him from James Gang. Right? And he joined late. I don't think he participated in much of the album. So he's certainly been a great force with their live performances. Timothy Schmidt was kind of a backup guy, but you got Henley drummer, Glenn Fry's gone, Eisner and whatnot. You know, the main guys are gone. But yet, man, people go and they just are like head over heels over this concert. And as I mentioned, the Doobie Brothers, we looked it up and it Baxter was there for a while. McDonald, Michael McDonald, and a couple of the founders were, so actually there were four people that were associated with the band along the way. So, I thought, all right, give 'em a break. But here's the other thing. Some of these bands are like, you can't use one name like Fleetwood Mac.
[00:18:37] Charles: Yeah.
[00:18:38] Paul: There's a name that endures, right? They were successful in three different markets, you know, they went from the, Peter Green Blues to Stevie Nicks and the Lindsey Buckingham Adult Contemporary, all under the guise of Fleetwood Mac.
[00:18:51] Charles: Yeah.
[00:18:51] Paul: There, the name, they were all authentic. But, I'm less inclined to go see Stevie Nicks. I loved Bob Welch and, Peter Green and Danny Kerwin and all [00:19:00] those guys much more. So, the good news is I did see 'em when they were out and traveling, and now of course, it's not possible.
[00:19:06] Charles: Yeah, you'd mentioned the Eagles and that was actually my first concert that I went to, I've mentioned it on the podcast before, it was 1976. My mom and dad had tickets and my dad got sick. So I went with my mom and yeah, it was 1976. And I had written down here that Joe Walsh joined the band in 75 and actually replaced one of the founding members, Bernie Leadon.
[00:19:29] Paul: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:30] Charles: Or however you pronounce his last name. And that was for Hotel California. Obviously I was what, 11 years old or something? I didn't know. It was cool seeing them play all these songs that I heard on the radio and that my parents would play the albums and stuff. I would encourage people, get out your concert lists from last year or previous years and ticket stubs and start researching some of these bands that you saw. And you might be surprised that maybe you didn't actually [00:20:00] see the original lineup.
[00:20:02] Paul: At the end of the day, if you had fun and you enjoyed listening to it, we shouldn't take that away. But I think the bands do miss something. Like how many band members does it take before you're not authentic. Like there was a big uproar when the Rolling Stones fired Brian, and he subsequently, died and they replaced him with Mick Jones. And then, we had the Beatles who added Preston. But, could you think of anybody with the four of them, playing? That wouldn't be the Beatles. And the music would probably be good.
[00:20:28] I took a look at the big concerts that are coming up to see what are some of the big names, and I mentioned Annie Wilson from Heart, Motley Crew's going out, but Vince Neil is sick. So he's a little dicey, and of course he's a strong part. Can you imagine watching Motley Crewe with a drummer other than Tommy Lee, or Nicki Mars?
[00:20:45] I mean, that's one of those bands guys, if you can't all show up, I'm sorry. You should go to request site or something. You should do something else because you're not that band. Anyway, like I've become to the concert curmudgeon. But, we tried to research who was playing or who was singing, [00:21:00] and it was hard to find information.
[00:21:01] Some of that wasn't transparent. It is about copyright and who owns band name and they have it legitimately and they're playing the songs. I just expect a little bit more. So, I was in physical therapy today and a guy next to me, he said, oh, you doing anything special this coming of year?
[00:21:14] You're going to any concerts? Concerts. That's just live music. And the guy was younger than I was. I talked to him for a few minutes, he goes. Why would I go to that? Then you get bands that were like the Grateful Dead, you got Bob Weir passing away as a reminder, but remember what an experience that was to go to one of their concerts, right?
[00:21:28] They had all the shops and whatnot in the parking lot. They jammed so no show was ever the same. And they got the audience, copy our shows. A very different approach that our live experience with their audience. And it was, you know, very loyal audience. There was a woman on CBS news. Said she went to eight shows for the Grateful Dead. Well, I don't know that I've seen anybody eight times, so that, that's pretty amazing.
[00:21:48] Charles: I've seen the Dead like 15 times.
[00:21:51] Paul: Wow!
[00:21:52] Charles: A couple of my friends were Deadheads, so I would basically go along. I mean, I enjoyed it definitely. And yeah, the parking lot was crazy. [00:22:00] The show is crazy. And yeah, they allow you to tape, there's a taper section, you know, where you could tape the entire show. And then they trade all these bootleg tapes.
[00:22:10] Paul: Yeah. And they were all cassettes and many of them, those shows didn't have mixing desks. Now you go into places even at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn would've small you, Duke Tomato and the All Stars. And, Brian Auger was there on all these little band intimate places where I love that.
[00:22:23] I don't know if I told you the story about Brian Auger, sort of gets off the path here, but he replaced his band 'cause he worked with Rod Stewart and a number of other. Elton John, Brian Agar, the organist. Well, he was traveling with his son, his drummer, and his daughter is the front, lead singer and a guitarist.
[00:22:37] And him, and afterwards I went up to him and I said, Hey, I wanted to apologize to you because back in Schaumburg in 1973, I was the guy yelling pabang from the back of, he goes, that was you. I think he's lying. I don't think he remembered, but he signed my record. I guess, look for something else out of just recitation of the hits. You know, I, I look at the venue, right? Like I mentioned Arcadia or [00:23:00] The Sphere, right? The venues. Auditorium Theater, rock band, and Auditorium Theater. We talked about that in the past, right?
[00:23:04] So the venue can be helpful. Do they have an opening act or not, right? That's a way for some opening acts to get some exposure, right? And then are they doing anything that's, a little bit unique or collaborative? I really like some of the, they would call 'em unplugged sessions. When I was a kid, I didn't like the live recordings. The live records, because that's not the music I hear. Now I think they're better.
[00:23:24] Bands are more well prepared. So anyway, it was just kind of a musing and I thought with all the people going and, some of your people talked about how they snuck on backstage or the guy who swam through the canal or they didn't have their clothes the next day and all they had was their shorts or something. So that was more of how they got involved and made something, right?
[00:23:43] Charles: Yeah, you know, when you first mentioned this idea, Paul, I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. You know, it's obvious things. Oh, is The Who still The Who without John Entwistle and Keith Moon, or these obvious things popped in and then I started to really look into it. I'm like, holy cow. I've seen a lot of bands even [00:24:00] last year that I had no idea there was these lineup changes that had occurred. So, is it good? Is it bad? Sometimes it turns out to be a good thing or just like you said, just go and have a good time.
[00:24:12] Paul: Yeah, the music is part of it. The other part is, like we said, if you're at Fitzgerald, you can have a beer. And I remember, it was the bar they shot Paul Newman in The Color of Money. I dunno if you remember, that's an old movie, but pool players traveling around and they used Fitzgerald as the backdrop.
[00:24:26] And one night we were there and there was a local band, Johnny Reno and the Sax Maniacs. And a friend of mine called me up and said, let's go. We're going to Fitzgerald's. We went there a few number of times. I go, Johnny Saxon. We, he goes, have we ever heard of him? He goes, no, but the name is awesome. We gotta go, right?
[00:24:41] So we get there and it's a summer night. It's about 105 in there. And, he jumps up on the bar with the mic in his saxophone and he walks across the bar doing his sax solo. The place just was screaming and you're sweating. And it was wonderful. You know, that [00:25:00] kind of thing is wonderful. And so if you go, it's more like research the band before you go. Like my friends, oh, it's Grand Funk. Paul, you always said you like Grand Funk. So we went, you danced with my drunk girlfriend, like, oh God.
[00:25:11] But, he didn't care. They just played to the music and danced and were outside. So that's fun. But I would encourage people to do a little upfront stuff. What band are they? What era are they from? Or what record? And I would listen to some songs before going kind of research, refresh my memory.
[00:25:25] And I think to your point about your show, and that is how do you experience a show in a way that's meaningful and at a good time and all that. And so while I sort of started out with a negative thought in my head, I thought this just encourages people to look for other things and vote with their dollars when you're going out for a concert and say, this was important or this was great. So I'm glad we went there. And if it looks kind of cheesy, like so I did not go to the Grand Funk concert. My friend said, well, let's just go and see what they're like. And I go, no, I don't wanna do that. You know?
[00:25:54] Charles: Yeah, I could see that.
[00:25:55] Paul: Anyway, when you did some of the research on the 36 people of, [00:26:00] AC/DC. It's funny, it comes down to what's Angus and Brian doing, and maybe that's enough, right?
[00:26:05] Charles: Yeah. For some people they just want to hear the hits and see some familiar faces, and that's good enough.
[00:26:10] Paul: I would encourage, and I've encouraged other people that I've talked to, go see some new bands in some new formats. Because that's how they get some exposure. And, especially, Chicago's got some local bands and you go to the Empty Bottle or the Living Room or other places that are intimate and small, right? I think your last, guest saw somebody at the Living Room and they were talking about how it's 300 people. And, anyway, I just thought it was an interesting analysis. But, at the end of the day I would say that, with a little research, I think it enhances your experience by knowing what you're gonna get a little bit.
[00:26:37] Charles: I know I will. Now that you brought this up, Paul. Now I'm gonna take a look at these bands and see what I'm up against.
[00:26:43] Paul: Yeah. And one story I'll tell you, I was explaining to somebody today about the Beatles and concerts. They went to Shea Stadium, one of the first outdoor stadiums. Seats, 55,000 people. Horrible sound system. And these guys came out with like Vox, that were no bigger than your Samsonite suitcase, right?
[00:26:57] Nobody could hear anything. The [00:27:00] band itself quit touring because they couldn't hear themselves, over the audience. And they played at the Hollywood Bowl is their last one, not their last concert was the Candlestick Park, but at the Hollywood Bowl. And for years, the Beatles and George Martin did not wanna release that recording.
[00:27:13] But somebody at Capital said, look, you don't have a live album. That was supposed to be Let it Be, right? This is what happened. This is what went down. This was not an engineering failure. Like somebody forgot to plug in the mics. This was the minute they announced George Harrison, the place went nuts and it was like a 747 for the next 30 minutes. Just people screaming and the noise. And that in itself, it's not something you put on the relax or at a cocktail, but just to hear that that's how it went down. And so in that case, the recording brought me there to something I couldn't hear ' cause I didn't get to see the Beatles during Beatlemania. Anyway.
[00:27:46] Charles: Paul, maybe that's another topic. I know you brought this up. Hearing Them Live. Looking at some live recordings of bands, famous albums and such. So, yeah, maybe, that's something we should pursue.
[00:27:57] Paul: Yeah, explore. Explore a bit. When you look at [00:28:00] Frampton and Beatles at Hollywood Bowl and there are others. Live recordings made Frampton. I mean, you couldn't move without hearing Frampton as opposed to some of the studio bands. So, I mean, there's some fun stuff in there, especially if you get a guest, like, do they have a live record or performance that they remember.
[00:28:15] Charles: Yeah, I know I love Live at Leads. The Who.
[00:28:18] Paul: Oh, fantastic.
[00:28:19] Charles: Well, Paul, thanks for a great topic. This was very eye-opening for me and I'm sure our guests will, appreciate it as well. So, thanks again and anything you wanna plug or sign off with?
[00:28:32] Paul: Keep on trucking. Go look for concerts that have some unique twist to the format or the venue and enhance the value, so.
[00:28:38] Charles: Yeah, for sure. All right, well Thanks Paul.
[00:28:41]
Paul:
Hey man. Thank you. Good to chat with you. Take care, Charles.