Patch Readers Recall Their Most Memorable Rock Concert Experiences

NEW ENGLAND — On Monday, Patch published an anniversary recollection of an Aerosmith concert at Springfield Civic Center which took place during an historic snowstorm in 1983. The story also included memories of a Kinks concert at the same venue later that year, with an unlikely opening act - at the time a complete unknown named Cyndi Lauper, who had to keep dodging debris and was eventually booed off the stage.

That article prompted a flood of emails - some from people who were at the same Aerosmith show, some from folks who were present for the Lauper debacle, and others telling of their most memorable and most forgettable concert experiences. Emails came from as far away as Vancouver, Wash. - ahhh, the power of Google Search.

We have decided to share some of those tales with you.

Aerosmith and Pat Travers, Feb. 11, 1983

• "I too was at this show. Heck, a good portion of Fermi High was there. I remember the powers in charge saying that we could stay the night there. But we had to be in Northampton at the Hilton Hotel where my parents were waiting us for a weekend stay. We got into a friend's 1974 Camaro and headed out. It was brutal, you could not see four feet in front of the car. But we made it. Got stuck right at the end of the off-ramp. My friends had to sleep on the floor of our room. My parents called one of the friends' parents, and their dad came out the next morning. We all ate breakfast. Then we had to go dig the Camaro out of the snow on the side of the road. What a wild night for a 13-year-old." - Don Baltronis
• "I was Number 8 in line. Waited all day. Pat Travers rocked it and then the wait sucked for Aerosmith. After he was done, I remember Steve coming out and saying "It seems that while we were in here in Springfield rocking out Mother Nature dumped a whole lot of snow outside." I had a cast on my right foot from a ligament tear and went out for a cig. They locked me outside and flipped me off (Civic Center staff) and told me no re-entry. I had a flannel shirt on and no money, and ended up walking most of the way home . When a cop picked me up walking in the middle of the street, my cast fell off and he gave me a ride the rest of the way home! Oh what a memory!!" - Brian Hope
• "I was there that night. I parked under I-91 so my car was not snow covered. Got lucky and got behind a plow all the way to Enfield. Made it to the top of my street and got stuck. Went back in the morning and dug it out." - Kevin Renaudette
• " I remember going to the show too during the blizzard. I had just got my license and it was the first time I drove in the snow. I just remember my girlfriend in high school freaking out driving home to Vernon." - Rich Conway
• "Was there with a buddy and we actually made the mistake of parking outside at the Center Square lot. Came out to 18 inches of snow on his Dodge Diplomat. Followed a plow down State Street to get home to 16 Acres. We had a blast though." - Bob Signorelli
• "They came on stage two hours late and could barely remember the words to their songs. I did not have to stay overnight, somehow managed to make my way home." - Arlene McNamara

The Kinks and Cyndi Lauper, Dec. 28, 1983

• "I did attend the Kinks show on Dec. 28, 1983 and your comments about that show brought back some vivid memories. Talk about irony. Forty years ago I was living in NYC working as a sound engineer for concerts. During the '70s and '80s I worked with many artists, but on that night I was working for Cyndi Lauper. I was standing behind the mixing console when Cyndi came on stage with her uke, and watched in horror as the crowd threw things at her and the band. Just three days later, Cyndi was one of the four artists who performed on MTV's New Year's Rockin' Eve. As you noted, her career and popularity grew quickly after those concerts. It was a pleasant surprise to relive that experience from nearly 40 years ago. This was the first show I had worked on in Springfield. I came back for another concert in June 1985 with Wayne Newton. This trip was important because while I was here, I met my future wife. I eventually moved here in 1987 and got married." - Jon Sutherland
• "I remember Cyndi Lauper acknowledging that she was hurt by the booing. Never thought we’d hear from her again. Wasn’t her fault, but she was not the type of opening act that the Kinks fans were expecting." - Tom Zukowski
• "Cyndi Lauper was hard to watch. I was super young and was kind of freaked out by the behavior of the "adults" around me. I actually got hit with a quarter that was being thrown at the stage. She had tears running down her face as she sang her heart out. Incredibly talented!" - Joe McLaughlin

Best concert experiences

• "My most memorable concert experience started on Saturday, Nov. 15, 1970, when my brother and I along with our girlfriends headed to the Filmore East in NYC to see the Mothers of Invention. At one point during the show, Frank Zappa stopped playing and told the audience that Grace Slick was backstage and, if we encouraged her, could probably be prompted to join him on stage. She did just that, and after performing "Louie Louie" with the Mothers, she announced that both the Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead were in town and would be performing an unadvertised concert the following night. We immediately bought tickets. The following night, we were seated six rows from the stage and the Filmore was electric with excitement. The New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia on guitar opened, followed by Hot Tuna with Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane along with Papa John Creach, and everyone in the auditorium was on their feet. The Grateful Dead then took the stage and played nonstop for over three hours, at which point they were joined on stage by the group Traffic, who had apparently heard what was happening and just showed up. After a brief altercation between Stevie Winwood and Pigpen over who was going to play the organ, the show continued. By the end of the night, all of the musicians were on the stage jamming. It's possible that impromptu concerts like this happened all the time, but we had never seen anything like it. At 4:30 a.m., the houselights came on and the show was over." - Rich Baber
• "The Who in 1969 at the Bushnell. I was a senior at Penney High School in East Hartford. My friend Aaron comes up to me one day and says I got two tickets to see the Who, wanna come with me? Well after I woke up from passing out, I said yes of course, a big yes. So off we went, I’ve never been more excited in my life, kids from East Hartford going to see the Who - the greatest band of all time. I looked down at my ticket: orchestra fifth row, seat 8 in the middle, OMG it just kept getting better. Then they came on stage to warm up and play, I think I might have had a small heart attack. It was the most fantastic wonderful beautiful perfect awesome best live performance mankind had ever seen and heard. Their movements were superb, every note and every sound was perfect; it was nirvana. They played and played and played. We screamed and yelled and cried and cheered and cried some more. I had never seen or heard any music like it before in my life. The memory is still fresh in my mind so many years later." - William Lilley
• "When I was 10 in 1967, I compound fractured my ankle. It wouldn't stay set so they rebroke it three times. Needless to say this little girl was in a wheelchair for the duration of that long, hot summer. The Monkees came to Portland while I was recovering. I believe Hendrix opened. My 42-year-old, conservative, Catholic father took me to the concert. He screamed, waving his arms in the air just as loudly and enthusiastically as any teenybopper in the Memorial Coliseum. One of the best times of my life. We couldn't hear the music over the screaming. It was awesome." - Laryn Dole
• "Won tickets off WCCC to go see Live Aid, great seats too. One snag - I was a year out of graduating high school and my folks were not about to let me and my girlfriend at the time go to Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium to see the show. Hmmmm, what to do. Oh yeah, I went - I lied and said the tickets came with a bus ticket to get us there. What transpired next was a genius plan that was conceived by myself and my best friend. Bought bus tickets (hid those so I could show them with the tickets to the show), transferred at Grand Central Station, pretty much 24-48 hours of no sleep." - Rob Terzi

Worst concert experiences

• "Neil Young at the Oakdale like 12 years ago. He wouldn’t let any food or beverage in the auditorium during the show, so more than half the audience was just getting drunk and eating in the lobby for most of it. He had to reverse course at his intermission and allow us in with our concessions so he had an audience to play to." - Jon James
• "I was so looking forward to seeing Van Morrison for the first time at our Beale Street Music Festival about ten years ago. He didn't do one of his hits until I asked my wife if he was doing some variation of Moondance. The audience left in droves. He told the newspaper the next day that he only appeared here since he was on his way to the New Orleans Jazz Fest and that it was his "jazz set. You have to pay me more for my hits set." I've never listened to his songs since." - Mike Schooler
• "1978. William & Mary College Arena Hall, Williamsburg, VA. Eddie Money was the starter band for Van Halen. This was Van Halen's first show on their first tour as the headliner. Van Halen was incredible. Eddie Money however was boring as hell. I liked some of his songs on the radio, but in person he destroyed them." - Ken Maltese
• "My worst show was Steve Miller Band at Jones Beach several years ago. He NEVER looked up, mumbled the whole time and played too many album cuts instead of hits. My stepdaughter fell asleep!" - Sheila Mallinson
• "The worst ever was Eric Clapton. Bore fest." - John Garcia