rastro

I've seen some great shows at CM Woods Pavillion, and I think it's a fine venue. Before they added seats and moved the lawn back though. Now the lawn seats aren't nearly as good. I saw the following shows there: Robert Plant '93 or '94 Elton John & Ray Cooper '93 David Bowie '90 Depeche Mode '91 Rush '97 Bonnie Raitt '93 R.E.M. w/Radiohead '95 (2 shows) The Cure '92 Steely Dan '95 Sting '93 Sting '96 B-52's w/Ziggy Marley Styx '96 Yes '91 Since moving to Colorado in '98, I've seen a few shows at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, which is an outdoor venue like CMW. Woodlands Pavillion is a superior venue with a much better atmosphere. I love walking through the woods from the "Green" parking lot. Very nice.

I saw the following shows at SH Coliseum: Rush '81 (Moving Pictures Tour) Jethro Tull w/Whitesnake '80 or '81 The Kinks '81 Van Halen '80 Van Halen '81 Jouney w/AC/DC '79 DEVO '81 It was delapidated and falling apart inside. Ceiling tiles in the corridors were literally hanging and peeling away from the ceiling. Journey and AC/DC were amazing. I can say that I saw AC/DC with Bon Scott...some people think that's pretty "cool". Rush for Moving Pictures was also memorable. Anybody remember the Guardian Angels that would hang around after the shows to help keep the peace among the concert riff raff? It was comforting to have them around ready to knock some skulls to protect the crowd.

Houston was my home from birth (1963) until 1998, when I moved to Colorado. I saw the following shows at the Music Hall: Peter Gabriel 1982 Phil Collns 1983 B-52's w/The Judys 1981/82 Basia w/Ottmar Liebert 1989 or '90 Van Halen 1979 Peter Gabriel was touring to support his 4th album entitled "Security", and was simply mesmerizing. I've seen over 100 concerts in my life and to this day Peter Gabriel '82 remains in my top five concerts of all time. Without rambling too much, here's what I remember: i believe there were two main aisles separating three sections: Left, Center, Right. I sat a few seats to the left of the aisle in the Left section. After the house lights went down, beating drums could be heard coming from behind outside in the concessions lobby area. Peter Gabriel and the band members began walking single file down the left aisle, each member carrying various drumsets strapped to their bodies. They finally go to the stage and took their positions with their instruments and Peter Gabriel climbed up a ladder to a platform 10-15 feet above the drumset and began primally wailing the beginning of "Rhythm of the Heat". Talk about goose bump material! Peter's face was painted like it is on the album cover of Plays Live, which was recorded during this '82-'83 tour. I have tried unsuccessful to get any video footage from this tour, and would love to get my hands on some. The bands' black and gray costumes along with Peter's makeup made this a very unique show...also Peter was one of the first performers to use the headset microphone system during this show, which also added a very different and unique sound to the vocals. In retrospect, it could've sounded better with better technology. Later in the show during "Lay Your Hands On Me" PG walked out into the audience, using the armrests as steps, while he beckoned the crowd to "Lay Your Hands On Me". More goosebumps. "San Jacinto" was also a highlight, when Peter uses a simple spotlight for dramatic effect while he stood upon a chair and pulling his face in and out of the light and shadows. A great night, except after the show, i got pulled over on Louisiana St. near Brennan's Restaurant for driving all the way from the Music Hall without turning on my headlights!. I had always heard that the Music Hall had the best acoustics of any concert venue in Houston. I've also seen a bunch of good shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum, but I'll list those in a different post.