Welcome to my first anniversary episode, celebrating the second anniversary of the mylifeinconcert.com podcast (I didn’t do one the first year so I’ll be doing two this year to make up for that).
For these anniversary EPs, I will be jumping into the future of my series and selecting gigs from throughout my concert=going years that are personally significant for me or that I really want to highlight or talk about.
And this first anniversary podcast jumps into 1988 and a gig wherein I had some extraordinary revelations that I have never forgotten.
Join me next time for this Episode 23, concert no. 51, and an unforgettable show by Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos at the then-recently—and beautifully—refurbished Fox Theatre in Detroit, on December 8, 1988.
Unexpectedly, and through a bizarre merging of synchronicity and happenstance, I find myself directly in front of Keith, about 10-or-so feet away, for his entire encore. And it results in an epiphany.
I have written a new, full blog entry on the show as a companion piece to the podcast.
Tune in for avoiding a strip search at the border, being in agony and the healing power of music, and some realizations about rock stars.
Next on Stage: The next concert crystalizes a moment in time, representing a changing of the guards in the alternative music world, when The Beat—or The English Beat as they were called on this side of the pond—come to Alumni Hall in London, Ontario with a new, unknown American band called R.E.M. in tow as the opening act.
The show took place as The Beat were in the last throes of their career but also peaking in popularity in North America. Meanwhile, R.E.M. released their classic debut LP, Murmur, during that same week.
Retrospectively, it marks the sundown of one era and the sunrise of the next.
Returning Special Guest Phil Robinson has a lot of great memories from the night which he shares.
Tune in next time for stage invasions, a cultural shift, and wondering what the hell I was thinking.
Read the original 2011 blog entry here …