1987-1989

100. Leaving Trains and the Insolents. Lost Iguana, El Paso, Texas 1/5/87

Lost Iguana was a short lived punk club in El Paso. I went with Peter and Ceil Herman, professors that I worked with at New Mexico State university. Leaving Trains were quite loud and snotty you would say at times. I can't remember the Insolents. There were not very many people at this show. I think the punk scene was probably not that bad in El Paso, it was just no one ever got the word out about shows very efficiently.

101. Alice Cooper and Megadeth. (pass) Veterans Memorial Stadium, Phoenix, AZ 1/31/87

I had arranged for my magazine to possibly get an interview with Alice Cooper, so they set me up with passes. When we picked them up at the window, there was to me no interview. We got to see the show for free anyway! Megadeth were great! We went down to the floor for this part of the show and they really ripped! Not really what the Alice Cooper hometown crowd was expecting, I don't think.

Alice Cooper, I had never seen before, but I really liked the latest lp Constrictor quite a lot. He put on a excellent show. I went out to this show with my cousin Craig Wall, who was a big Cooper fan. We stayed with my friend Rob Romero, who was living in Mesa at the time. Great concert, with all the old Cooper props, etc.. Fun. The set list was:

Welcome to my Nightmare, Billion Dollar Babies, No More Mr. nice Guy, Be my Lover, 18, The World needs Guts, Give it Up, Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed, Go to Hell, Ballad of Dwight Fry, Elected, Under my Wheels, Sick Things, I love the Dead, School's Out drum-bass-guitar solo, School's Out

102. Iron Maiden and Vinnie Vincent. (backstage pass) County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas 2/27/87

Back in August I had done a phone interview with Vinnie Vincent and we was really cool and excited about his new band. There was a lot of bragging about the big contract he had with Chrysalis (which of course went to Slaughter, when his backing band left him and formed that band!). Anyway, I had a pass for the show and was able to go backstage during his set only. Still they were great live and Vinnie ripped in the guitar. I was not into the make up and crap but they jammed! They were all very cool when I spoke to them after their set as well. I got one of his pink pics!

Iron Maiden were touring the Seventh Son tour and were really excellent (and loud as hell!). I remember my ears being blasted at this show. They were excellent. I recorded both bands and they came out quite good. Excellent show.

103. Alice Cooper and Tesla. $14.90 Civic Center South Hall, El Paso, Texas 3/24/87

Had we known that Alice Cooper would come to El Paso, we probably would not have gone out to Phoenix. anyway, this was a much smaller place and we had a great view. He played the exact same set of music as in Phoenix with the same props etc.. but you could see everything much better. Another great show.. As for Tesla, they were alright, but I was not really into them that much. I did like their acoustic CD quite lot though.

104. Jason and the Scorchers and Eric Johnson. $1.00 Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico 4/2/87

My cousin Craig had turned me onto Tones by Eric Johnson. We stood right in the front row to watch Eric and he ripped it up with his style of jazz blues fusion. He did one or two Hendrix songs as well. Pretty impressive. Ben O'Conner was really into Jason and the Scorchers and they pulled a decent crowd (hell, it was only $1). I think they were ok.

105. Capital Punishment Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas

This was the first time we went to this punk club in El Paso. It was in an industrial area. I went with my cousin Craig and his friend Greg, who were both freshmen at New Mexico State University. The female bass player for Capital Punishment was the one who was taking the money at the door. I think it was like $5.00. There were not that many people who showed up. They were great!! After this I traded a few tapes with people to pick up a few of their records. I would see them again at the Gilman Street, since they were from Fresno California.

106. Raw Power and the Dehumanizers Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas

This was an amazing concert. I had the Screams from the Gutter lp and loved the quote" Raw Power" of it. It was cool to see the Dehumanizers as well, as I had traded some of their demos with David Portnow, I think his name was, so I had copies of the original demos by the band. I would by the Kil Lou Guzzo 7" at this show, as well as a t-shirt! Both bands were really amazing. There was more people and slamming at this show. Again, I think it was craig and greg who went with me.

107. 7 Seconds Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas

I had tapes of several of the 7 seconds records and their early stuff was really great but they were getting less raw and heavy, but they sure were great live. The crowd loved the shit out of them and they said they played all the songs that they knew so they did the cover of Nina Hagen's 99 luff Balloons a second time. It was a great show also.

108. Suicidal Tendencies and Short Dogs Grow $11.00 Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas 5/23/87

This was the first show I had been to at the new Sound Seaz location, which was like a barn on a farm out of town. Pretty weird place but not too bad. I had arranged to do an interview with Suicidal for this show. They were really arrogant fuckers. Short Dogs Grow blew them away and were totally awesome. I sat around and chatted with them and bought a t-shirt! Great band. Suicidal were a bit pissed about having to play a barn on a farm out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere America, so they only played like a 50 minute set. They ripped pretty hard and they have a great guitar player. Anyway, after they were over I got to go on the bus and have a chat with them while they drank beers and smoked bongs loads! I remember that one of them had an obnoxious girlfriend who would butt in and say " What kind of question is that, etc..".. Very annoying. I never did use the interview as there was not much of substance to use. Looking back on this experience, it was funny to see Suicidal Mike on all these anti- drugs panels etc.. when the whole band were totally into partying it up, smoking dope, etc...

109. Anthem and Racer X. (backstage pass) Country Club, Reseda, California 6/5/87

ANTHEM were one of my favorite Japanese metal bands and I had arranged to get to do an interview with them on the day of the show, as this was to be their US Showcase show. My penpal, Hatsumi Sakoda (from Burrn Magazine in Japan), had sent me a lot of their music and I was in touch with their management in Japan as well. I came out from New Mexico especially for this and stayed with my college friend Robert Fowlie. We did the interview in a hotel room somewhere in Hollywood. The guys in the band spoke little of no English and I watched John Strednansky struggle through his interview and knew I was not going to do it the same way. I asked them to answer the questions that I asked in Japanese and them I would have Hatsumi translate it for me.. They gave me a terse answer in English as well.. This turned out to be fabulous, as they really gave great answers when I got them back. I put them on the cover of an issue of metal madness and they were the feature article.

As for the show, Racer X were one of those guitar virtuoso bands and I did not think they had that great of songs but good guitar solos. Not too bad.. As for Anthem, they were incredible! I think I was one of the few who knew all their songs! They were great! They gave me a t-shirt from the Japanese Bound to break tour.. This US show did come out as a live lp and video. I never did see the video though. What a great time!

110. The Kinks and The Knack. $20.85 County Bowl, Santa Barbara, California 6/6/87

The day after Anthem, we drove up to Santa Barbara for the KINKS. The Knack, were pretty washed up by this time but still hung onto their one big hit, My Sharoona. They actually were not that bad. It had been 8 years since I saw the Kinks and I was not sure what the music would be like. They really rocked! They are just a great live band. I have liked some of their studio records (Misfit, Low budget), but live is where they really are great. It was a fun show and the Santa Barbara Bowl was an incredible amphitheater up in the beautiful hills above the ocean. Great place for a show, unless you live near by as I am sure they can hear it loud and clear!

111. The Accused. Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas 7/19/87

This was a really fun show. I think Craig and I went together to this one. They were really great live. I think some local band opened the show. The singer has a really twisted voice and the guitar player was just great! We had a goo time at this show and we chatted with the band and bought a t-shirt. Great fun.

112. Y&T, Ace Frehley and $14.40 County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas 8/14/87

My penpal Oliver Large from France was visiting for a week, so we spent the day going down to Mexico and then to this show. It was hot as hell. It was probably the hottest concert (temperature wise) he had ever been to! My friend Greg Anderson drove down from Albuquerque to see Ace, as this show was not going to Albuquerque. Y&T were really popular in El Paso. Ace Frehley was quite good as were Y&T. I have recordings of both bands. Greg did Ace and I did Y&T. I think Olivier had a good time, his first big rock show in the US. After visiting us I think he went off to Boston to visit the guys in Druid!

113. Dead Milkmen, Frontline and NOFX. Sound Seas, El Paso, Texas 8/19/88

This was a fun show. I think this was first show that Lani Kast (one year later would become Lani Heller!) and I went to. Ceil and Peter Herman went as well. As I recall they drove and we went out to eat before hand. Kind of strange place to take your professors to! It was a good time. NOFX were just great live. A good fun band. I am amazed at how popular they are nowadays! Don't recall Frontline at all. The Dead Milkmen were really entertaining. I think everyone had a good time.

114. Aerosmith and Dokken. $16.75 Special Events Center, University of Texas, El Paso 2/10/88

Ceil, Peter and Lani and I all went to this show. We had really excellent seats, straight on to the stage. Everyone thought that it was too loud, but that is life! Dokken actually were really great live! I thought that this new lp was a breath of life for them. They were really good live. Aerosmith were touring the Permanent Vacation lp, which was a real mixed bag. It was really the start of their fall into the well of commercial success again, but this time playing horrible pop ballads written specifically for radio, not like in the 70's when they just stood on plain great songs. The still were quite good live except when they played the pop hits like Angel (yuk!) and Dude looks like a Lady. The set lists were:

115. Inner Circle. $10.00 Mesa Inn Ballroom, El Paso, Texas 5/8/88

Lani and I went to this show and it was amazing! I had never heard much by them but they were excellent live. Their latest lp at the time, One Way, had some great reggae on it. I did hunt down all of their old releases with jacob Miller after this and that stuff (all except the discoy lp) was great roots reggae! Too bad that the Bad Boys hit song made them go a bit too commercial. Seems that most of the reggae bands die a commercial death.. Great show.

116. Burning Spear $12.30 Mesa Inn Ballroom, El Paso, Texas 5/19/88

We got there too early so we went to see the movie Colors. We went with Ceil and Peter. Mark Keyzers and Anne went to this show as well. This turned out to be an amazing show. I really wish that I had recorded it. It was on the People of the World tour and they had that amazing all female horn section, that was on the Live in Paris CD, which I really loved. This was a great show. When the band came out I remember that they looked really stoned.. I guess that helps to get you in the groove! Great show!

117. Reggae Sunsplash $15.80 - Featuring Toots and the Maytals, Yellowman, Pato Banton, Sophia George, Bloodfire Posse, Edi Fitzroy, and the Sagittarius Band. Paolo Soleri, Santa Fe, New Mexico 6/2/88

Lani and I drove up from Las Cruces to see this show. For some reason we were really into reggae at the time. We also went to the show with Cliff Heller and Craig Wall, both cousins of mine. Cliff (from NYC) was working in New Mexico for the summer. It was a great show and I recorded parts of all the bands and my batteries died during Toots and the Maytals, who put on an incredible energetic show. I think that Pato Banton was one of my favorites, but Edi Fitzry was also excellent. Good show.. After the show we were too tired to drive all the way back so we stayed in a really cheap hotel (like $20 a night) right off Candelaria and the freeway in Albuquerque. The Waffle House next door was really good! It was a good time.

118. Eyeball, Nasal Sex, Surrogate Brains. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 7/8/88

Lani and I were out in California to try an find a place to live. I had been accepted into the PhD program in Endocrinology at UC Berkeley. We were also getting married in a week or so as well. We stayed for a week at some friends of my mom's (I grew up with their kids in southern CA). We did find a place in El Cerrito. Anyway, the Gilman street was a find also, as this was a great punk club and easy to get to. They had 3-6 bands every Friday and Saturday night for $5-6. I actually worked the door for a few shows as a volunteer after we moved there so I got to see a few show for free! Eyeball were a new band at the time from SF and they were great! I think I bought their 7" record. I don't recall the other bands though. The last year before we had moved to CA I was trading tapes with a few people and getting quite a good collection of hardcore and punk from the 80's. I would collect up a lot over the next few years and see some great shows.

119. The Muskrats and Sweet Baby Jesus. (won tickets) Berkeley Square, Berkeley, California 8/5/88

This was our first show after we moved. We had only been in CA for 5 days. We found the great radio station (KALX, UC Berkeley) right away. I would win tickets on the radio to like 50% of the shows I would go to over the next 5 years! Sweet Baby Jesus were a pop punk band, who would later drop the Jesus from their name so they could get on a major label (sell out!). They were ok, a bit funny some of their songs. The Muskrats had been around a while in Berkeley and played a really interesting style of music. Lani really liked them a lot. We never did find any of their lps.

120. Zulu Spear (won tickets) Ashkanez, Berkeley, California 8/12/88

ZULU Spear, were the local African band, which were lead by guys from Africa but with a lot of other bay area musicians. They put on a great show and the lead men did these great traditional dances and wore traditional African costumes. It was really a world music but not poppy like Johnny Clegg.. A fun show and Ashkanez as a great club.

121. Operation Ivy, Lazy Cowgirls, Creamers, Dwarves and Bhang Revival! $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 8/19/88

This was an amazing show. Every band were great. Bhang Revival were an all female band. I really liked them. We bought their 7" record. The Dwarves were totally over the top and the singer just out of hand. They played these very short songs and he would thrive about and spit and take off his clothes and just act like a total idiot! The crowd loved it! The Creamers were from LA and played a cool style of fast paced melodic punk. They had a very statuesque female singer. Lani really liked them. The Lazy Cowgirls were excellent as well. The place was totally packed, and you could hardly breath by this time as everyone was filling in for Op Ivy, who were hugely popular.. Lazy Cowgirls were a lot of fun. Op Ivy played a style of punk ska that would become very popular. They wrote really great songs as well. Too bad they never did more stuff.

122. Poison Idea, Blast and Attitude Adjustment. $8.75 Stone, San Francisco, California 8/21/88

I had tapes from the Stone but I had never been there before. Sort of a famous place for metal shows. I guess it does not exist now. I had really liked Attitude Adjustment a lot. Their first Ep was a killer release. They were also excellent live! Blast, I had received their latest record from the label and it had a weird cover of School's out by Alice Cooper. They were quite aggressive live. Poison Idea were excellent. These guys are huge! The guitar player is like 500 pounds and the singer over 300! Wild stuff. I really liked the longer songs then the really short 1-2 minute ones. Great show!

123. Reggae Explosion with Sugar Minot, Swelele, Lambsbread, Harambe, Donny Rasta, I-World International Rockers, Mystic Youth, Vukami Mawethu Choir, Tropical Sounds, Beatriz Ross Cultural Dance Ensemble. (won tickets), Fort Mason Pier 3, San Francisco, California 8/27/88

This was a very long and grueling show, lasting 12 hours. Some of the bands were quite good while others did little for me. Lani was really bored and this would be one of the last shows that she would go with me to. They had a lot of little stands selling food and music and clothes, etc... The best band was Lamsbread. They played excellent roots reggae. Sugar Minot was quite good as well.

124. Final Conflict, Neurosis, Apocalypse, Raskul, Internal Conflict. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 9/10/88

This was a really heavy punk show. These bands were really fast aggressive hardcore. Neurosis was the most interesting band. I really liked their first lp, Pain of Mind alot. Turns out they are playing tonight here in Denmark (10/12/97). They were selling a new 7" (Abberation) which I bought. Final Conflict from LA were smoking! Great show.

125. Tangerine Dream and Andy Summers. $21.50 Berkeley Community Theatre 9/24/88

Lani and I went to this show and pretty good seats up on the balcony. I recorded the show as well. Andy Summers was just by himself playing his guitar with some effects boxes. He did some interesting stuff but got pretty boring. Tangerine Dream put on a great visual show and played a good mix of songs. I quite liked a lot of the stuff off of Optical Race. The best part of the show was when the guitar player came out and did a massive jam. The set list was:

MOTHERS OF RAIN, ?, TYGER, ALCHEMY OF THE HEART, PIANO SOLO, PHAEDRA 1 (EXCERPT), LIVE MILES (ALBUQUERQUE SIDE), LOGOS (EXCERPT), ?, ?, ?, ?, CAT SCAN, ATLAS EYES, MARAKESH, ELECRTRONIC DRUM SOLO, GHAZAL (LOVE SONG), ?, ? ,?, OPITCAL RACE

126. Sacrilege, Neurosis and The Uncalled For. Kesha's Inn, Berkeley, California 10/21/88

This was a cool show. I had the Sacrilege lp and it had some great songs on it. I had never been to Kesha's Inn (really the original Ruthies Inn). Another famous bay area metal club where all the bands would play in the early days. Don't remember the Uncalled For, but Neurosis were quite good and played a longer set with most of their first lp. Sacrilege had a loyal following that showed up for the show. It was a fun show. I actually gave the singer a ride back home in my truck after the show!

127. DEVO. (free show) Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley, CA 10/27/88

Who would have thought DEVO would be around. They had those classic lps of the late 70's early 80's but this was late 80's. Well, was I surprised. They got to play for one hour and were great! I think I was late for or missed a class to catch this free show on campus. It was packed also with several thousand people. They were great. I really liked them a lot. Very cool show.

128. Ignition $3.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 10/29/88
(last show under Maximum R&R management)

I am not sure how I heard about this show (probably the Max R&R radio show on KPFA or KALX), but this was the last show under the magazine management. I guess they could not keep it all going the way they wanted and so they decided to give it up. Luckily there were good people to take up the slack and keep the community club up and running, better then ever! Ignition, were not an aggressive style band but more of a punk/rock mixture. I was pretty impressed with them. I think they were from DC?

129. Blind Illusion, Hexx, Blackstorm, and Shattered Image. $8.10 Omni, Oakland, California 10/30/88

I went to this show to see Blind Illusion, whose record I really liked a lot. Great band. They were very good live as well. HEXX were the real surprise for me. I was totally blown away by their aggressive style and the vocalist had this insane voice. They sounded a lot like Kreator to me. Great guitar riffs and a hot drummer! Blackstorm were a new local act. These guys were quite young but had set of really loyal fans at this show. Pretty cool show. I recorded BI and HEXX.

130. Mr T Experience, Stevie Stilleto, Corrupted Morals and the Vagrants. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 11/5/88

Mr. T Experience were another really popular local Berkeley band that played a poppy punk style, like Green Day. I don't recall what Stevie Stilleto were like. The Vagrants were a young group who were working at the Gilman and really into the scene. I never got into them though. I really liked Corrupted Morals alot though. Their 7" record was great and they were powerful live! Great band.

131. Sink Manhattan and Pig Farm. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 11/7/88

I can't recall what Pig Farm were like but Sink Manhattan were a band that if you saw them you would never forget the show. Not very many people were at this show and the bands stuff took up all the stage and part of the floor. They had two bass players (if you could call them that!), trombone and vocals and multiple percussion people who played huge steel drums and barrels with metal rods. It was a very loud and noisy sound scape but quite interesting, not always just noise. During one of the songs they cut one of the barrels in half with a chainsaw! We bought their record after the show as Lani really liked them. Cool show. Whatever happened to them?

132. Charged GBH, Piranha and Attitude Adjustment $12.00 Stone, San Francisco, CA 11/9/88

I had been wanting to see GBH for a long time. I still think that they are one of the best ever of that style of hardcore. They had a new lp out and it was ok, but they stuck mostly to the old classic tunes! Great live band. Piranha was Paul Baloff's new band after he left or was booted from Exodus. They were not too bad but you could tell they were a new not very well rehearsed band. I think they did one Exodus song. Attitude Adjustment were great as always and the crowd was slamming hard for them. A lot of punks at this show, so Piranha only got a so reception.

133. Stikky, Plaid Retina, Vagrants, Skin Flutes. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 11/12/88

I don't recall who the Skin Flutes were. Again the Vagrants played. They were playing a lot of shows during this time period and had their own little cult crowd. Plaid Retina were a smoking band from Fresno. I really liked them and they had a great guitar. Their songs were all quite short but good. Stikky, were a fun band to see. Some of these guys would leave to form the all white reggae band, Inka Inka! Fun band!

134. Attitude, Melvins, HEXX and Sadus. (won tickets) Ruthie's Inn, Berkeley, CA 11/25/88

Sadus were a bit too death metal for me. This was in the beginning of when that type of sound was forming. I liked some of the guitar riffs but hated the style of singing. HEXX were really smoking. The Melvins were a bit out of place but they were a heavy band and the guitar player was totally into feedback. I think they played a few more songs than the last time I saw them, when it was mostly noise! Attitude used to be Attitude Adjustment and they were pretty much playing the exact same style of music and were really quite good. I spoke to the guys in the Melvins a bit about David Portnow and the label that their first record was on. I guess everyone got burned by that label.. He was a nice guy, the guitar player. I also hung out with the guys in Hexx. Really nice guys.

135. MX Machine, Insecticide, Eminence and Santa Claus. AMF, Berkeley CA 10/9/88
(same place as old Gilman Street, just new name)

This was a great show, at a time when Gilman was trying out having metal shows now and then. It never did catch on though. I don't remember Eminence or Santa Claus. I was hanging out with the guys from MX Machine and insecticide. I used to correspond with the guitar player for Insecticide and MX Machine, their lp was produced by joey Vera of Armored Saint, who I knew. It was fun time. I recorded both bands from the soundboard and they both were quite smoking! No idea whatever happened to either band.

136. Metallica and Queensryche. $21.50 Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA 12/10/88

Lani and I went to this show. This was the first time for me to go to the Cow Palace. It was an awful place for a show. It was like a huge barn that was made for cattle shows, not concerts. We sat way up in the stands. Metallica's stage show was big so you could still see what was going on. Queensrcyhe played most all of Operation Mindcrime with only a couple of old songs like Take hold of the FLame and Queen of the Reich.

I remember being blown away by the size of the pits at this show. The floor was huge so you had these two huge pits going on when they played the fast songs. Metallica were quite good though. I could have hoped to hear a few other songs but it was a good show. I sort of lost interest in Metallica after this.

137. Motorhead, Holy Terror, and Verbal Abuse. $17.60 Omni, Oakland, California 12/17/88

I had been waiting 7 years to see Motorhead again. They only disappointed in the fact that they only played 65 minutes. I thought Verbal Abuse were great, but I liked their lp Rocks your Liver a lot. I think the crowd was a bit mixed. Holy Terror, I had both of their lps and had reviewed them in the zine. I was a bit disappointed live. I think they were better on the record. I was right on the rail in front of Phil Campbell. Lemmy was in the middle and Wurzel was on the right. I only lasted a few songs up front though as I was getting squished and it was so loud. These guys turn the amps up to 10, I am sure of it! Motorhead were smoking though, they just did not play long enough.

The set list was: DR. ROCK, STAY CLEAN, TRAITOR, METROPOLIS, DOGS, DEAF FOREVER, STONE DEAF IN THE USA, BUILT FOR SPEED, JUST COZ YOU GOT THE POWER, EAT THE RICH, ORGASMATRON, KILLED BY DEATH, ACE OF SPADES

138. Ozzy Osbourne and Anthrax $$20.75 Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA. 1/15/89

Robert Fowlie was visiting from Southern California and we went to this show together. We had seen Ozzy together a couple of times in the past. Anthrax were touring the State of Euphoria lp which had some of their best material on it. Really an excellent lp. They were really good. There was a drunk guy walking thru the crowd trying to sell his bootleg t-shirts. He dropped one and I kept it!

OZZy had a new guitar player named Zakk Wylde. I had no idea what to expect. This guy was wild, running around alot and he was played really fast.. It was a good show. I don't remember the exact set but it was something like this:

BARK AT THE MOON, SUICIDE SOLUTION, MR. CROWLEY, DEMON ALCOHOL, SHOT IN THE DARK, I DON'T KNOW, FLYING HIGH AGAIN, BLOODBATH IN PARADISE, ZAKK WILYDE- GUITAR SOLO, SWEET LEAF, WAR PIGS, TATTOO'D DANCER, DRUM SOLO, IRON MAN, CRAZY TRAIN, PARANOID

139. Laaz Rockit, ANGELWITCH, and Defiance. Stone, San Francisco, CA 3/18/89

I was so blown away and could not believe that Angelwitch were playing in America! They were one of my favorite bands in the early 80's NWOBHM. We used to jam the first lp a lot and Kevin Heyborune stood out as a unique guitar player. Defiance were not too bad, but I never pursued getting any of their material. ANGELWITCH were fucking great! I even got to meet and talk with Kevin Heyborune, who was a really nice guy. Anyway, they played all the classic first lp songs. They even played the 12" b-side Flight 19 and the comp lp only track Baphomet! Nothing from the Loser Ep though. The set list was:
ANGEL OF DEATH, SWEET DANGER, CONFUSED, SORCERERS, GORGON, BAPHOMET, EXTERMINATION DAY, ATLANTIS, FLIGHT 19, ANGELWITCH, WHITEWITCH

I really liked the first Laaz Rockit Ep, Cities gonna Burn a lot and gave it a great review in my zine so I was pretty psyched to see them as well. They played a short set but were really heavy. I had a chat with the bass player at some point and we was really cool. The set list was:

FIRE IN THE HOLE, LAST BREATH, MOB JUSTICE, BAD BLOOD, MIRROR TO MADNESS, FORCED TO FIGHT, HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA, CAHSING CHARLEY, SELF DESTRUCT, SAY GOODBYE, HIROSHIMA, BACK BREAKER

140. FRANK MARINO $13.25 Oasis, San Francisco, CA 3/19/89

Moving to the Bay area was amazing for me, someone who was so into music, but in New Mexico rarely ever saw the bands I really liked a lot. Frank Marino had been my favorite guitar player for a long time and he never came to New Mexico or El Paso. This was a dream come true to see him in a club and I stood right in front of him the whole night and didn't record the show. I was blown away at just how easy he made it look to play the guitar. The Oasis club was interesting as there was a pool in the middle and for shows like this they would cover the pool over with a thick wood and plexglass cover. The set list would be very similar to the ones I would see him perform over the next couple of years.

The set list was: The Answer, Midnight Highway, Redhouse
Dragonfly, Strange Dreams, Free, Poppy, All along the Watchtower
Rock and Roll hall of Fame, Who do you love-Jam Solos, Electric Reflections of War, Roadhouse Blues

The real surprise of the set was to hear Redhouse. He used to play that a lot of the early shows I have from 73'-75 but not recently. I did not have many tapes of him doing All along the Watchtower either. The old instrumental, Poppy was great though. A really amazing song! Where are you now Frank?

141. ANGELWITCH, Heathen and Terminal Shock. $7.00 Ruthie's Inn, Berkeley, California 3/25/89

This was a pretty amazing show! It was a who's who of bay area metal. Lars, James and Kirk were at this show as well as the guys from Laaz rockit, Testament, Death Angel, Forbidden, you name it... I actually stood next to Kirk and his girlfriend during the Angelwitch set and Kirk kept yelling out Loser!! They never did play it. I was surprised by the encore song of Paranoid, which they used to play in the very early days. Amazing show. I can't remember anything about Terminal Shock, but heathen were great as well. I really liked their demo tape that they had sent me years back. Angelwitch played pretty much the same set as the week before but this was more intimate and really smoked!

142. Candlemass, Tarantula and Wrecking Machine. $8.50 Stone, San Francisco, CA 4/16/89

Candlemass were one of my favorite metal bands of the late 80's. I guess this was before the term DOOM metal came into fashion. Wrecking Machine were really aggressive punk like band not too bad. I can't remember Tarantula. Candlemass were really amazing!! I was totally into the Ancient Dreams lp so hearing those great songs live was excellent! They played a good mixture of new and olds songs as well as the Sabbath Medley that was only on a 12" Ep or the Nightfall CD. The set list was:
Mirror Mirror, Bewitched', Solitude, Bells of Acheron, Samarithan
Bearer of Pain, At the Gallows End, The Well of Souls, The Sorcerer's Pledge, Black Sabbath Medley:, Symptom, Sweet Leaf, SBS, Into the Void, Electric Funeral, Supernaut

143. SNFU, Desperate Minds, Chemical People, Complete Disorder, Popsicle Lovesponge. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 5/5/89

It was great to get to see SNFU. I loved both of their lps. they had such a great sense of humor. Live they were great! The singer was totally insane and jumped all over the place. They were full of energy. It was great to see Chemical People as well. I had recordings of a bunch of their stuff. I can't recall the other bands from that night. It was a packed show as I recall though.

144. Scream, Uniform Choice, Unit Pride, and Nation of Fire. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 5/6/89

This was a straight-edge show and a smoker. All though I thought that people in this straightedge thing were a bit narrow minded they sure produced some kick ass music. The Uniform Choice debut lp is an all time favorite of mine. Scream were from DC and played a great set of music. Unit Pride were a young angry group of punks, as were Nation on Fire. A different crowd but a great show. Uniform Choice were awesome!

145. Cro-Mags, Destruction and HEXX. $10.25 Stone, San Francisco, CA 5/22/89

Get to see HEXX yet again. This show gave them a bit more exposure. They were really hot. They played about 38 minutes. I recorded it but I don't know the titles of their songs. I had been waiting to see Destruction, figuring it would never happen, as I had reviewed their first demo and had an interview with them in one of my issues of Metal Madness. They even thanked me in the inside of their 2nd lp! This was a new line up though with a 2nd guitar player. I really liked the infernal Overkill lp a lot. The guitar player wrote some of the coolest metal riffs at the time. They were really good live also. The set list was:

CURSE THE GODS, UNCONSCIOUS RUIN, REJECT EMOTIONS, MAD BUTCHER, GUITAR SOLO, ETERNAL BAN, LIFE WITHOUT SENSE, RELEASE FROM AGONY, BESTIAL INVASION

The Cro Mags were touring the 2nd lp called Best Wishes which was another amazing lp, with just killer guitar riffs. I was really blown away by these guys live but sadly I had to leave the show before they finished in order to catch the last BART train back to the east bay. It was suppose to be an early show and end at 11:30, but it was running late. They were fucking great though. The hari krishna message is kind of weird but musically they are amazing and powerful live!

This was also a memorable night because this was the night that I met my friend Jay Jones. He lived in Richmond and was taking the train home from work or something. We got talking about music on the train and he gave me his number. We would get together every few weekends and listen to music, as he had an amazing history of seeing concerts and collecting records and CD's! Jay is a great guy!

146. Poison Idea, Life Sentence, Herb Tarlicks, Schizoid. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 7/8/89

This was a very cool show. During the breaks between bands I hung out with Poison Idea a little and chatted. I even took the lead singer over to their hotel to get something. I still am not sure how he fit into the truck! The Herb tarlicks were really good and goofy. The crowd loved them. They were selling a 7" record that I am sorry that I didn't buy. I wanted to buy everything back then but could not. Poison Idea were very cool and let me record the show from the soundboard. I mailed them a copy a week later. They were really great and the singer was totally out of his mind. He had drunk a whole bottle of Thunderbird and a 40 ounce malt liquor. He actually broke a bottle on his forehead during one of the songs and the blood was running down his forehead all over his face.. A wild night.......

147. WASP and Metal Church. $21.35 Omni, Oakland, CA 8/10/89

This show was suppose to be at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium but at the last minute was changed due to poor ticket sales. Well they took the whole PA for this 3000 person auditorium and put into the Omni which held about 900 people. It was one of the loudest concerts I has seen and it was so incredibly hot in the club. I remember the clouds of heat leaving the club between bands when they opened the vents in the ceiling.! I think WASP cut their set short because it was so hot. They only played 66 minutes. Metal Church had the new singer and the guitar player who filled in for James Hetfield in Metallica when James had his broken arm! They were pretty good but the new songs and singer just were not as good as the old band and songs. Their set list was: START THE FIRE, ?, FAKE HEALER, LET THE CHILDREN PRAY, BADLANDS, MEDLEY: , TON OF BRICKS,
Highway Star.

I thought that the latest WASP lp was their best ever and just loved the songs on this lp. They were just as good and heavy live as well. A fuckin' great show. The recordings came out distorted though because it was so loud. The set list was:

HERETIC (LOST CHILD), THE REAL ME, LOVE MACHINE, WILD CHILD, HEADLESS CHILDREN, FOREVER FREE, THUNDERHEAD, I DON'T NEED NO DOCTOR, I WANT TO BE SOMBODY, ANIMAL (FUCK LIKE A BEAST), BLIND IN TEXAS.

148. Neurosis, Melvins, 647-F, Bhang Revival. $5.00 Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 9/23/89

This was another great show. Bhang Revival had returned and were quite good again. Very cool chicks as well. The Melvins put on one of their noise fests, in a short set of music. They never seemed to play more than like 30 minutes when I saw them. Neurosis had a pretty good following in the area at this time. Who would have thought they would still be around now... Cool show.

149. HAWKWIND, King of Kings and Subject to Change. $15.85 Stone, San Francisco, CA 10/7/89

This was amazing to finally get to see Hawkwind. I was had heard of them for years but never really got into them until a guy from Chicago who used to write for my zine, he recorded me almost all of their studio lps at the time. I had recently bought the Xenon Codex before this show and liked it a lot. I remember being surprised that Huw was not with the band. Subject to Change were an alright sort of instrumental jazz rock band. The crowd were really die hard HW fans though and gave all the bands a really bad reception booing a lot, which I thought was out of hand. King of Kings were really excellent live and I liked the CD as well.

Hawkwind were really amazing. Lani and I had great seats off to the right hand side. I recorded the show myself and it came out quite good (but I have a soundboard tape now!) The light show was really amazing and the images. I was really blown away by them and sort of kick myself for not driving the 60 miles the next night to see them in Santa Clara at One Step Beyond. Lani really liked them a lot as well. The set list was: Intro>Magnu, Down through the night Treadmill , Time we left> Heads>time we left, Hassan I sahba, Wind of change , Assault & battery, Golden void, Back in the box, Arrival in utopia, Back in the box / Brainstorm, Dream worker, Damnation alley
Needle gun, Ejection

150. The Hard Ons, Coffin Break, Groovy Ghoulies, Skin Flutes. Gilman Street, Berkeley, California 11/17/89

This was a really cool show. Chris Eng had turned me onto the Hard Ons (who are from Australia) and it was cool to see them live. They play a sort of high speed pop punk with bizarre lyrics. Coffin Break from Seattle were a great live band. Their first few lps were excellent as well. Don't recall the other bands that night. It was a fun night!

151. Jethro Tull and It Bites. $21.85 Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 12/10/89

Lani and I went to this show together and our seats were off to the right side and under the balcony. Hardly an ideal place to record but the view was quite good. It Bites, a Scottish band, were not too bad live. I tried out a couple of their lps and did not like them that much. Lani did not like them. Jethro Tull were excellent as I had expected. I had not seen them since 1980! It was a really good show.