Ticket Stub Time Travels

 23 years ago today... March 31, 1998 - Phoenix, AZ Arizona made it to the big leagues when the Diamondbacks made their Major League Baseball debut at the opening of Bank One Ballpark. Arizona had hosted MLB Cactus League spring training since the 1950s, but the market only had a Triple A minor league baseball franchise until this date. The NBA Phoenix Suns were no longer the only professional sports team in Phoenix. This was an important day in Arizona sports history. Bank One Ballpark was a grand new addition to downtown and the sports landscape. With seating for 48,500, the "BOB" as it became known, was the only ballpark at the time with its own swimming pool. The retractable roof and levered panels across the outfield allowed for an open-air park for early and late season, while being a model of modern air conditioning through the hot summer months. The inaugural year opening day ticket was a unique souvenir, featuring a holographic image that reflect the roof opening...

 4 years ago today... March 30, 2017 - Tempe, AZ Leftover Salmon played a concert of bluegrass, Cajun and country at the Marquee Theatre. This jam band from Boulder celebrated its longevity by publishing a book, "Leftover Salmon: 30 Years of Festival." That seemed appropriate, as we saw many of our festival jamily here this night. Here's a link to the setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/leftover-salmon/2017/marquee-theatre-tempe-az-4be6973e.html

 16 years ago today... March 29, 2005 - Stateline, NV Jam band String Cheese Incident played a long concert for music-loving skiers in the showroom at Caesars at South Lake Tahoe. Therese and I were married at Harvey's wedding chapel at South Lake Tahoe in 1995, so we returned for a 10th Anniversary celebration ski trip. We skied at Heavenly all day, the mountain with runs in both California and Nevada, then hit Caesars for this show. String Cheese Incident was formed in Telluride and Crested Butte and made its name playing ski resorts and festivals across the West. The group was new to us, but brought a strong fan base to Tahoe. It seemed as if there were as many people outside the venue trying to score tix to the sold out show as there were inside. SCI plays a progressive bluegrass/electronica/country/reggae/funk stew that is tough to categorize. We didn't know their original material, but liked their unique treatment of covers like "Boogie On Reggae Woman," ...

 41 years ago... March 28, 1980 - Carbondale, IL Tucson native Linda Ronstadt brought her "Mad Love" tour to the SIU Arena. Linda made her mark with country rock and employed the Eagles members as her backing band. She was the top female singer of the 1970s and appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek and 6X on the cover of the Rolling Stone. This show was her entry into rock & roll with New Wave influences on her "Mad Love" album. Elvis Costello contributed several songs on this LP. The top hits were "How Do I Make You" and "Hurt So Good." She had a short punky haircut and was a long way from her folky roots, but still sounding great and still easy on the eyes. Linda later recorded albums of jazz standards, Mexicali music and orchestral arrangements, a tribute to her versatility. Sadly, she no longer sings or performs due to health issues.

14 years ago... March 27, 2007 - Glendale, AZ Rod Stewart was on his Rockin' In The Round tour on our anniversary at Jobing.com Arena. My wife wasn't there but my mom was. Therese got called out of town on business, so my vacationing mom, 82-years-young then, joined me for "Hot Legs," "Do You Think I'm Sexy," etc. with Rod's go-go girls gyrating right in front of our 2nd row seats. The Great American Songbook catalog was ignored. This was memorable for both of us.  

 19 years ago today... March 26, 2002 - Phoenix, AZ Crosby Stills Nash & Young brought their Tour of America to America West Arena. From the set opening "Carry On," this was a terrific show from the folk rock supergroup who played their second show ever at Woodstock. A memory of my youth was listening to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" through headphones on a high-end stereo system while in an altered state. It blew my mind and music was never the same to me again. CSNY played most of their better known songs. Neil Young was clearly the star of the show and was given the stage for some of his best solo work including "Southern Man," "Cinnamon Girl," "Old Man" and "Rockin' In the Free World." The band members sounded great vocally on this night. I have seen CSN (sans Neil) a few times and each of them solo, and they haven't always brought the harmonies from the albums. The encore featured the Buffalo Springfield cover...

27 years ago today... March 25, 1994 - Sun City West, AZ Waylon Jennings, one of country music's original outlaws, performed a concert in his adopted home state at the Sundome. Waylon's hit-making days had passed, but he was still a top concert draw and was in the midst of his days with The Highwaymen, a supergroup that also included Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Waylon was originally one of Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets.  While on a package tour, he gave up his plane ticket to a ailing Big Bopper and agreed to take the bus to the next gig.  The plane crashed, killing Holly, the Bopper and Richie Valens. Waylon's solo career took flight in Arizona when he was tabbed the house act at J.D.'s, a Scottsdale nightclub.  He often played Mr. Lucky's, the west Valley honkytonk reviewed in the March 16 entry of TSTT.   This concert was a home game for Waylon who was joined on stage by his wife Jessi Colter.  She sang a few solo songs and join...

 41 years ago today... March 24, 1980 - Indianapolis, IN In the 1980 NCAA Basketball Finals, Louisville won the National Championship with a 59-54 win over UCLA at Market Square Arena. I was a college senior and drove to Indy from Southern Illinois with a classmate whose brother worked for ABC-TV and secured tickets and press passes for us. The $15 face value of the ticket would likely buy one Coors Light at the 2021 Final Four. The seats were up high but at center court in now demolished Market Square Arena, then the home of the Indiana Pacers. Louisville Coach Denny Crum won his first national championship behind the play of "Dr. Dunkenstein" Darrell Griffith who was named the Most Outstanding Player. UCLA, coached by Larry Brown, had a starting five that all later played in the NBA; Rod Foster, Kiki Vandeweghe, Michael Holton, Mike Sanders and James (Jamal) Wilks. In those days, the final round was a true Final Four, as a third-place consolation game was played immediat...

 11 years ago today... March 23, 2010 - Phoenix, AZ  Ray Davies performed a concert of his solo work and Kinks classics at Dodge Theatre. Ray was the lead singer and primary songwriter for the Kinks, the British band he and his younger brother Dave founded in the 1960s. The band's first single "You Really Got Me" put them on the road to stardom in the U.K. and eventually abroad. The Kinks broke up in 1996, but Ray continued on with a solo career that featured the MTV hit "Come Dancing." The Dodge Theatre concert was almost all Kinks songs including "All Day and All of the Night" and the show-closing "Lola." For a long-forgotten reason, I went to this Tuesday night performance solo. While standing in the will call line to pick up tickets, another guy in line started chatting me up. He was also by himself and invited me to use one of his tickets and sit with him. Turns out he was pals with someone in the band's management and had comp ...

 7 years ago today... March 22, 2014 - Peoria, AZ Country music newcomer Dustin Lynch headlined a post-spring training game street party concert at the P83 Festival outside Peoria Sports Complex. I served as stage announcer for this concert and met Dustin before the show.  He had released his self-titled debut album with charting hits "Cowboys and Angels" and "She Cranks My Tractor" which kicked off his concert.  I found him to be a very nice and humble guy with time for his fans, entertaining dozens of meet-and-greet winners from a local radio promotion. Lynch's set list included songs from an upcoming yet-to-be-released album "Where It's At."  He performed the title tune along with "Hell Of A Night," both of which eventually went to #1 on the country charts. City of Peoria presented this street party in promoting P83, its entertainment district on 83rd Avenue adjacent to the Peoria Sports Complex, spring training home to the San Diego P...

 7 years ago today... March 21, 2014 - Phoenix, AZ Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings played a concert of funk and soul music outdoors at Heritage Square. Sharon fronted a big band with a horn section.  They had just released "Give The People What They Want," a Grammy nominee for Best R&B Album, and played most of the album cuts this night. A year prior, Sharon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She soldiered on with her blistering high energy live shows like a female James Brown.  She commanded the stage at this show, but acknowledged how performing coupled with treatments sapped her energy.   The Dap-Kings played a 20 minute opening set prior to star-time with Sharon who was on stage for about an hour.  Sharon died two years later at age 60. This is the only ticketed concert I've seen at Heritage Square, a downtown city park of historic early residences converted into restaurants and shops.  The show was outdoors under the lattice pavilion...

 13 years ago today... March 20, 2008 - Tempe, AZ Arizona State Sun Devils hosted my alma mater Southern Illinois University in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. It was a postseason home game for ASU, the #1 seed in the region, and winners over the Salukis 65 - 51.  The Devils were led by beardless freshman James Hardin with 16 pts 7 assists. Salukis came in to the game beat up and without starters including all conference point guard Bryan Mullens.  Today, Mullens is the Salukis head basketball coach. Great seats were easy to come by and we were just a few rows off the court, part of a small but spirited group of Saluki fans.  It was fun to have the Dawgs play here, but the game was never in doubt. Southern Illinois won the NIT in 1967, back when it meant something and a true national championship, versus today when the winner is team 65 behind the NCAA March Madness field.  Walt "Clyde" Frazier was the star of the cha...

 2 years ago today... March 19, 2019 - Phoenix, AZ  Jamey Johnson played an outlaw country concert for a SRO crowd at The Van Buren. Johnson first garnered attention writing hit songs for other artists like "Give It Away" for George Strait and "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "I Got My Game On" for Trace Atkins.  He has gained critical acclaim for his own couple of albums and his biggest hit "In Color" was Song of the Year for both ACM and CMA.   Johnson other big songs "High Cost of Living," "Mowin' Down the Roses" and "The Dollar" were included in an eclectic setlist heavy on old country covers.  The show ended with John Prine's "Paradise," "East Bound & Down" from Jerry Reed and Don Williams' "Tulsa Time."   We really enjoyed this show and had fun hosting some vacationing family members at this sold out downtown venue.  The Van Buren, the newer but bigger brother to Cres...

 6 years ago today... March 18, 2015 - Tempe, AZ Railroad Earth played a concert of progressive bluegrass and Americana for a dancing audience at Marquee Theatre. McDowell Mountain Music Festival gets the credit for introducing me to this jam band in the early 2000s.  I was an immediate fan, drawn to the musicianship on fiddle, mandolin, banjo, stand-up bass and guitar.  RRE has a drummer, unusual for a primarily bluegrass band. We've seen RRE in smaller clubs like Crescent Ballroom and The Van Buren and on the jam band festival circuit.  RRE is always a favorite at M3F as a frequently-returning act.  For the unfamiliar, check out the tremendous 2-disc DVD Railroad Earth Live At Red Rocks, shot August 2014, shortly before the Marquee Theatre show. The photo with RRE was taken two years later at M3F when we won "best seats in the house" on stage for the band's set with Warren Haynes.  Band members got a kick out of the "lot shirts" that my friend Scott and I...

 3 years ago today... March 17, 2018 - Chandler, AZ Rock, Bluegrass and jam with a Dead alum made for a festival St. Patrick's Day at the Pot of Gold Music Festival at Rawhide. We were on board for Day Two of a three-day event at Rawhide, an Old Western town theme park.  Music alternated between stages in a covered pavilion and a grassy field with minimal break between sets.  The bands on this day targeted our tastes and demo.  The other two days did not. Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh headlined the day with his Terrapin Family Band on the main outdoor stage.  He drew the area Deadheads and the day's largest audience.  Phil left most of the dialog and vocals to the band including his son on guitar, but did make a passionate plea for organ donation toward the end of his set.  Big Head Todd and the Monsters brought a rock element and great lead guitar work to the main stage. Those groups were great, but we probably enjoyed the bands on the covered p...

 24 years ago today... March 16, 1997 - Phoenix, AZ Delbert McClinton played his style of Texas Blues at a St. Patrick's Day Eve show at the venerable West Valley nightclub Mr. Lucky's. Delbert is a veteran of the west Texas honky tonk and beer joint circuit and a touring road warrior.  He had some early success as a songwriter, penning "Two More Bottles of Wine" that Emmylou Harris turned in to a hit, and "B Movie Blues" that made the Blues Brothers movie soundtrack. By this date, McClinton had reached a new level of popularity thanks to his biggest hit "Giving It Up For Your Love" along with "Sandy Beaches," "Every Time I Roll the Dice" and his Grammy-winning duet with Bonnie Raitt, "Good Man, Good Woman." Mr. Lucky's was a unique venue on Grand Avenue from the mid 60s thru the late 90s.  Mr. Lucky's was two clubs in one; rock & roll played the upstairs, country & western downstairs.  The Friday Night...

16 years ago today... March 15, 2005 - Phoenix, AZ  Joe Cocker showcased his unique style for Mad Dogs and Englishmen and local music fans in a concert on the revolving round stage at Celebrity Theatre. I first discovered Joe Cocker in the Woodstock movie with his memorable performance of the Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends."  The spasmodic body movements from the film and later mimicked by a worshipping John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live" were still present, but toned down in this show. Cocker was touring behind his just-released album of covers titled "Heart and Soul."  His most popular works are covers from other artists, so another album filled with covers wasn't a surprise.   Cocker's raspy vocals cut through rockers like "Delta Lady," "The Letter" and "Feelin' Alright," but was also emotive in poignant pieces like "Up Where We Belong" and the concert-closing "You Are So Beautiful....

 33 years ago today... March 14, 1988 - Tempe, AZ  The 39th Annual Arizona Sports Awards dinner was held at the Sheraton Tempe Mission Palms resort. I was a member of the Phoenix Press Box Association which sponsored this event.  TSTT readers from central Illinois may remember Tom Schoendienst doing the sports on WCIA-TV3, who was now the Executive Director of the group. On this night, ASU senior golfer Billy Mayfair won AZ Amateur Athlete of the Year.  He now plays on the TPC Champions, aka "Senior," Tour.   Lafayette "Fat" Lever, formerly of the ASU basketball team and then with the Denver Nuggets, was honored as AZ Professional Athlete of the Year. University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson was named AZ Coach of the Year.    NBC Sports analyst and NFL pre-game host Paul Maguire served as the master of ceremonies on the evening and autographed the event program.

 5 years ago today... March 13, 2016 - Phoenix, AZ   "Never miss a Sunday show" is a popular festival saying and it typically applies to the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, aka M3Fest.    This wonderfully programmed and produced three-day music festival is a highlight of our entertainment year.  Since its creation in 2005, proceeds have gone to local charities. On this date in 2016, Gary Clark Jr. and Avett Brothers were the final two acts on the main stage at Hance Park in downtown Phoenix, the festival's home since 2013.   Westworld polo grounds in Scottsdale was the festival's first home and provided a camping option.  After five years, the festival moved to the faux-grass lined parking lot (!?) of The Compound Grill, a live music club and restaurant owned by principals behind the festival.  The setup and comfort was much cooler than that last sentence reads.   After three years in the parking lot at Compound Grill, the re...

21 years ago today... March 12, 1999 - Phoenix, AZ The Manhattan Transfer brought its unique style of jazz vocalese to a concert in the round at Celebrity Theatre. Comprised of two male and two female vocalists, Manhattan Transfer could sing a cappella and swing with an orchestra.  The only act to win a Grammy in both the pop and jazz categories in the same year, they had an early 80s hit with "The Boy From New York City" and also with "Birdland" and "Twilight Zone." I took my mom and her older sister to this concert.  They were in their late 70s/early 80s and this was one of their last big nights out on the town together.  They enjoyed Manhattan Transfer, and reminisced about seeing Nat King Cole in the same theatre more than 30 years earlier.  Good memories...  

 14 years ago today... March 11, 2007 - Phoenix, AZ Guitar god Eric Clapton and his protégées showed their chops in a sold out show at US Airways Center. I was excited to see EC for the first time, and he brought an incredible band.  Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II were on guitars in a three lead approach with Willie Weeks on bass.  Woah. EC was the star, but he was happy to put the spotlight on the two young guitar slingers who seemed to be in competition for the master's approval.  Trucks was particularly spectacular with his unique slide style that he had perfected with the Allman Brothers and his own band.  Tedeschi Trucks Band would come along three years later. Clapton concert fans have a great resource site that tracks and reports on every EC show.  Here's the link for this night's show in Phoenix: https://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-tour/11/03/2007 Those EC fansite reviews are good and more thorough than I could ever be.  My top pre-enco...

 40 years ago today... March 10, 1981 - Carbondale, IL Counterculture activist Abbie Hoffman spoke to a crowd of mostly college students at the Student Center ballroom at Southern Illinois University. Hoffman, a leader of the loosely-organized Youth International Party ("Yippies"), is best known for being one of the infamous Chicago Seven convicted of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Now a 22-year-old senior in college, I was just nine years of age when Hoffman was wrecking havoc at the convention and protesting the Vietnam war.   The Flower Power movement had long passed and Hoffman was now irrelevant, but he began touring the college lecture circuit to raise money for his legal defense.  He had been busted for cocaine possession, jumped bail, and went underground for six years, changing his identity.  On the day he turned himself in he appeared on a national TV interview on 20/20 with Barbara Walters.  At the time of ...

 24 years ago today... March 9, 1997 - Phoenix, AZ Eagles founder Don Henley recruited some great musicians to join him for a charity concert at tiny Union Hall. Titled Don Henley and Friends, this was the later of two shows this day, a benefit for the Southwest Center of Biodiversity.    This was a tremendous concert, with Henley singing classics from the Eagles catalog along with his top solo hits.  His all-star cast of friends included Eagles bandmate and bassist Timothy B. Schmit, Bruce Hornsby, The Byrds' Roger McGuinn and his former lover and Phoenix native Stevie Nicks. Each artist had their time in a solo spotlight, but the concert highlights were in the duets.  McGuinn opened the night with his signature Byrds sound on "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn Turn Turn" and "So You Want to Be A Rock & Roll Star."  This was my first time hearing McGuinn and he was great. Hornsby was next with "Way It Is," "Mandolin Rain" and "Wa...

 12 years ago today... March 8, 2009 - Phoenix, AZ Kenny Loggins played a concert for Footloose fans on the revolving round stage at Celebrity Theatre. Loggins was half of the successful pop-rock duo Loggins & Messina who had a lot of radio hits in the early 70s like "Your Mama Don't Dance," "Angry Eyes," "Danny's Song," "Vahevala" and "House at Pooh Corner."  These songs have the greatest appeal for me and still make up a large part of his solo show. By the 1980s, Loggins had become the King of the Soundtrack, contributing songs for "Caddyshack," ("I'm Alright"), "Footloose" and "Top Gun" ("Danger Zone").   These movie anthems are also prominent in the set list and registered with the younger audience members.    Loggins regularly plays Phoenix, typically at Celebrity Theatre.  The first time I ever saw him was in 1977 and we were disappointed to learn upon arrival at th...

34 years ago today... March 7, 1987 - Sun City West, AZ Tabloid talk show host Oprah Winfrey made an appearance for fans and advertisers at the Sundome Center. Oprah's show had been newly syndicated nationwide and was being aired locally in Phoenix on KTVK-TV3.  I worked at an advertising agency and had a client who was very interested in attending this local appearance, designed to promote her show and schmooze potential sponsors. Some media buyers and myself escorted a few key clients out to Sun City West to hear Oprah talk.  I would have rather been at the dentist.  We were invited to a smaller audience pre-show reception for advertisers to meet Oprah, who seemed indifferent to the VIPs on hand and just plain rude to the assistants and handlers in her traveling posse.   Once my client service responsibilities were over and Oprah took the stage for her public "performance" I was able to excuse myself and exit before my interest level bottomed out below zero....

  38 years ago today... March 6, 1983 - Tempe & Phoenix, AZ  A rare two event doubleheader day saw Arizona's pro football debut (in spring ?!?!) by day and an old-time rock & roll show with Jerry Lee Lewis by night. Arizona Wranglers were the local team in the start-up USFL, a league designed for spring & summer when the NFL was off.  Area fans were hungry for pro football, and 45,000 showed up to Sun Devil Stadium on a Sunday afternoon for the kick off of professional football in the desert.  The excitement was quickly dashed, however, as the home team got thumped 24-0 on its way to a 4-14 season.  The team had no-name players and the league folded after only three seasons. That night Jerry Lee Lewis played Graham Central Station, the westside neon cowboy nightclub patterned after the "Urban Cowboy" movie and bar scene. I wasn't expecting much from "the Killer," have watched him perform very intoxicated in a Mt. Vernon, IL barroom show two years...

 10 years ago today... March 5, 2011 - Queen Creek, AZ Three Dog Night recalled their rock hits of the early 70s at the Good Life Festival at Encanterra. The Good Life Festival was an annual outdoor concert event catering to baby boomers who are the target audience of Encanterra, a 55+ active adult residential community in the very far southeast Valley.  The Guess Who (the knockoff karaoke act headed by the former drummer/discussed in the Jan. 24 entry of TSTT) was also on the bill, but we arrived late and missed them. Three Dog Night, with front men vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron, were one of the major rock acts of their era, topping the charts with tunes pitched to them by outside songwriters. They had three songs make it to #1 in the U.S., each featuring a different dog as lead singer: "Joy To The World" (Negron), "Mama Told Me Not To Come" (Wells) and "Black & White" (Hutton). The group broke up in the mid 70s, only to reform a...

 40 years ago today... March 4, 1981 - Carbondale, IL Jimmy Buffett played his signature  trop rock show in bringing the Key West sound to the SIU Arena. Regular readers of TSTT will notice this concert comes one year and one day from yesterday's entry at the same venue. Buffett moved from theatres to arenas when his popularity exploded when "Margaritaville" hit the airwaves just a few years earlier.  He was now a major concert draw, and had captured his live show's energy and attitude with the double live album "You Had To Be There" released in 1978. This tour was behind the "Coconut Telegraph" album which had been out only a few weeks.  I was thrilled when MCA Records sent me an advance promotional copy of the vinyl, and offered me the opportunity for a pre-concert interview!   I listened to that record dozens of times to prep for the interview and had all my questions lined up.  Sadly, the interview was cancelled by his manager the day before th...

 41 years ago today... March 3, 1980 - Carbondale, IL In one of the final performances of the band's classic lineup of musicians, Marshall Tucker Band brought its style of jam-oriented Southern rock to the SIU Arena. Named after a blind piano tuner in South Carolina, this band from Spartanburg, SC produced some of the classic Southern rock albums of the 70s including "Searching For A Rainbow," "Carolina Dreams" and the double-LP classic "Where We All Belong," one of my "desert island discs" to borrow from the old Pulse Magazine column.   MTB was one of my favorite bands in this era, but this particular show was a disappointment, lacking the energy, fire and personality that I saw in earlier shows.  It was a Monday night in an college town, so maybe the band was tired from its weekend gigs in bigger cities.  Perhaps the recent bankruptcy of Capricorn Records, the only label the band had ever recorded with, had the band in a funk.    Turns out ...

 16 years ago today... March 2, 2005 - Tempe, AZ The touring production of Broadway musical The Lion King amazed the audience at Gammage Auditorium on the campus of Arizona State University. Based on the Disney movie with music by Elton John, the stage show featured actors in animal costumes and big hollow puppets.  At one point in the show, the theatre aisles were filled with the actor/animals in engulfing the audience into the performance.  It was loud and exciting and a great, but very different, theatrical presentation.  I'm glad we watched the movie prior to the Broadway production.  We really liked the musical.  The Circle of Life story was wonderfully told, but I particularly liked the "Hakuna Matata" attitude: Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze It means no worries For the rest of your days It's our problem-free philosophy Hope you're finding your Hakuna Matata mojo today. Photos below are from the program.