Concerts

I've been taking those stupid quizzes on Facebook and the one about which bands I've seen in concert prompted this post. The one on Facebook only allowed 5 and that's not nearly enough to cover my 25 years of concert going.

My first concert was in 1984 when I was 14. Ronnie Milsap came to Mena and it was a BIG deal! He played at the Mena High School football field which was still at the middle school at that time.

While in high school, I also saw Club Noveau (they sang an updated Lean on Me and a song called Rumors) at the El Dorado Civic Center, and The Beach Boys at NLU (I think it's UL - Monroe now) in Monroe, LA.

Barton Collesium:
I saw Huey Lewis and the News and I remember the bass player leaned back with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth the whole time.

I also saw Whitesnake and Heart and I came so-o close to touching Ann Wilson's boot but it didn't happen!

I only camped out for concert tickets once and that was Garth Brooks in 1990. Julie Dockins, Tanya Lewis, and I got in line with our sleeping bags and snacks. Tanya's brother Kevin showed up later in the night. We partied and played Uno until the morning where we scrambled to get in line. We almost didn't get tickets even after all that but we did and it was awesome!

I was on the floor for Nelson and Cinderella. I got so-o squished at Nelson and started feeling sick. All I could see was their hair as they danced around on stage. Julie and I went and sat in the stands for Cinderella because there were just too many people there.

My other memorable floor experience was AC/DC. I was at this concert with Julie, Tanya, and our friend Shannon Weaver. Shannon made it to the front row but I was still stuck a couple rows back. She grabbed my head and shoulders and tried to pull me forward but no one would budge so my legs were in the 3rd row and my head in the 1st row. I finally told her just to give up!

I saw Hank Williams Jr twice. I had tickets for another time but we had a car wreck on the way to the concert on I-30 and never made it! That really stunk!

Keith Luebke and I went to see Alabama. Keith was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and the year we saw them, Randy Owens had a Pi Kapp sweatshirt on the cover of their current album. After the concert, we went to the Holiday Inn by the airport where they were staying. They walked through the lobby and Randy pointed at Keith's t-shirt and said 'Pi Kapp, cool!' It made our night!!

Other concerts I saw there were: Van Halen (Van Hagar actually), Tracy Lawrence with Tracy Byrd and Neal McCoy, The Judds (twice), Winona, Bad Company, Reba McEntire with Don Williams and Garth Brooks (before he was popular), and Alan Jackson.

War Memorial Stadium:
For a few years, some really cool concerts were scheduled at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. I managed to make most of them.

My favorite was The Eagles when they did their Hell Freezes Over tour in 1995 (I think that was the year). They sang all their group songs as well as their individual songs like Don Henley's Dirty Laundry and Joe Walsh's Rocky Mountain Way.

I also saw Billy Joel and Elton John together which was really cool, The Rolling Stones and Bryan Adams (although I only heard Bryan from the parking lot as we were late), and Alan Jackson and George Strait together.

Alltel Arena:

I was one of the people that was extremely excited when they built this as Little Rock was finally going to get big concerts. I had some really great times here.

I saw The Dixie Chicks twice here, once with Ricky Skaggs and once with Michelle Branch. I also saw Prince (from the 10th row no less), Janet Jackson, George Strait with Miranda Lambert and Tracy Lawrence, and Toby Keith with Ted Nugent.

I also took Luke to see his first big concert here, Aerosmith. We were 3 rows from the top and he cried (he was 9 years old) at the end because they didn't play 'Dude Looks Like a Lady.'

Other concerts I've seen over the years that didn't take place in the main venues in Little Rock were:

Jimmy Buffett at The Pyramid in Memphis. We were in the nosebleed section and Jimmy Buffett looked like an ant but it was so cool!!

The American Idol tour at The Pyramid in Memphis the year that Ruben Studdard won and Clay Aiken came in 2nd.

T. Graham Brown, The Little River Band, and The Charlie Daniels Band at different times at Toad Suck Daze in Conway.

The Little River Band and Clay Walker at different times at Riverside Park in Little Rock.

LeeRoy Parnell at Family Fest in Maumelle.

.38 Special at the Heber Springs Fun Park.

The Black Crowes at Riverfest in Little Rock. I actually never saw them but heard them. I volunteered to work in the beer tent nearest the stage with my fellow Alltel employees. I had a frozen arm by the end of the night from reaching in to ice filled vats of beer but it was worth it to hear the guitar solo in 'Jealous Again.'

Rick Springfield at Lady Luck Casino in Mississippi. I left a HOT craps table for the start of the concert but I was NOT going to miss it. LOL!

Mickey Gilley in Tunica, MS. Amy and I were just about the youngest there but we had awesome seats and it was a great concert!

Kelly Clarkson at the Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire at Harbor Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

I think that is all of the major concerts I've seen. I currently have tickets for July 1st for REO Speedwagon, Styx, and .38 Special so I'm pretty excited about that! There may be more concerts but my memory alludes me at the moment. Hopefully, I can remember them over the next few days.