It’s hard to choose which musical performance I’ve enjoyed the most because I’ve been able to see so many. I think the first concert I went to was in 1964 in Portland, Or when I was 15 years old.. My Dad drove my sister, a friend, and me 3 hours one way to see The Beatles. It was a good concert and we were thrilled to be there but girls would scream throughout most of the songs so it was very hard to hear The Beatles. That was frustrating. When I went to college, I started to have the opportunity to see more groups. I’ve seen the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Jackson Browne, New Riders of the Purple Sage, BB King, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, Sheryl Crowe, Neil Diamond, Lyle Lovett, Jethro Tull, Carole King, The Beach Boys, Vanilla Fudge, QuickSilver Messenger Service, New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Grateful Dead, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Eric Clapton, J. J. Kale, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal, Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen, The Spin Doctors, Jefferson Starship, James Blunt, Donavon Frankenreiter, Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall, Dave Mason, The Moody Blues, Buddy Guy, Jack Johnson and… I’m sure there are many others that I am forgetting.
When we lived in San Diego a local radio station would host musicians on a Hornblower Yacht once or twice a month. I’d go to some business in San Diego and pick up a ticket. It would be at a different location every time. We then got to go on a Hornblower Yacht and cruise around the San Diego Bay and listen to good musicians for free. I haven’t mentioned most of those performers because some of them were very good but not very well known. Those were some of my favorite performances because we were outside, on the bay, usually with the sun and a cool breeze, there were lots of food and drink options and we were right next to the musicians. When the Spin Doctor’s were to perform Brian and I were in the front waiting. A woman was standing next to Brian and soon a guy came and stood right in front of her. She spoke up and told him “I hope you aren’t going to stand in front of me all night”. He responded that was exactly what he was going to do. Brian said he was glad, the guy then jumped on the stage ,he was the lead singer!
If I have to choose a favorite, I have a few favorites. I really liked the Rolling Stones performance because Mick Jagger has so much energy and puts on a fantastic show and their music is so good. I also really liked James Taylor and Jackson Brown’s shows because they were both so down to earth and talked to the audience. Neil Young was also one of my favorites because I like his music so much.
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