It was Friday the 13th in more ways than one.
Dear Listeners and Readers: Welcome to THE WORST CONCERT EXPERIENCE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!
One poster for the show read “…make this your lucky night.” Yeah, right.
While Police Picnic ’81 was a fairly sober and orderly experience for me and my compadres, the ’82 edition felt like a sadistic joke that wouldn’t stop. It was a day of being trolled by the concert gods.
The Talking Heads once again completely blew me away and The Police were radically improved from the ’81 edition, but even those silver linings couldn’t make the metaphoric dark clouds pass. Even the day’s one miraculous positive came with a big negative.
It was also my first of many visits to the now long gone CNE Stadium: the 60,000-capcity-for-concerts mega-venue in the heart of Toronto. (I made many visits there between 1982 and 1989, and shows by The Clash, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and The Rolling Stones are all coming up in this series.)
Special Guests returns once again, sharing his more cheerful experiences from the day that include hotel stalking, Sting/Boris/pizza confusion, and sleeping in a Henry Moore sculpture.
Join me in this delightful descent into festival misery and stay tuned for bad drugs, bad sound, obnoxious neighbours, pointless preparations, naive assumptions, swollen bladders, and a nightmare bus ride.
Correction: The Ginger Ale I mention at 18 minutes is of course Orange Juice.
Read the original 2010 blog entry that I first published on OpenSalon.com here.
NEXT PODCAST: Come back next time for one of the best concerts I have ever seen.
After five years of obsessing over my favourite band in the world, I finally get to see The Clash as part of a huge, loving and excited audience at the CNE Grandstand.
Black Uhuru also delivered a stunning and memorable opening set.
One of the best double bills of my lifetime.
To say that this visit to CNE Stadium was a far better experience than the Police Picnic just three weeks earlier is an understatement.
Stay tuned for bouncing masses, getting “The Message,” and The Story of Lady Bump.