My Best and Worst Concert Experiences

I’ve been to a few concerts over the years, and I’ve never been to one that made me want to walk out. I love live music. To me, it’s music in its purest form.

So this isn’t really a list of the best and worst concerts I’ve ever seen. It’s a list of some of my favorite concerts and some of my worst concert experiences. There’s a difference.

A great concert experience isn’t always just about the artist on stage. Sometimes it’s the people you’re with, the places you go and everything that happens along the way. Some of my favorite concert memories have as much to do with who I was there with as who was playing in front of me.

The bands on the worst side weren’t necessarily bad. In some cases, they were great. Sometimes I was the problem. Sometimes the people I was with didn’t help. Sometimes I had no business being there in the first place.

And sometimes it’s Grace Slick.

But that’s the thing about concerts. Sometimes a bad experience turns into a great story.

And after all these years, those are often the nights you remember best.

I’m thankful that only a few photos from these times exist. There are entire chapters of my life supported only by eyewitness testimony. These are a few of those chapters.

The Worst

The Osmonds – Mid America Fair, Topeka, Kansas – September 6, 1975

This was my first concert. I was 8 years old. I didn’t have a choice.

My mom took my sister, brother and me to see The Osmonds at the Mid America Fair in Topeka. We sat in the grandstand at the fairgrounds, and the whole Osmond family performed, including Little Jimmy.

I remember the Osmonds wearing what looked like Elvis-style jumpsuits. As it turns out, eight-year-old me wasn’t far off. Their stage costumes during this period were designed by the same guy who designed many of Elvis Presley’s famous jumpsuits.

I especially remember Donny wearing a sparkly purple cape. When he turned around, his name lit up on the back while a spotlight followed him. I’m not sure why that particular detail has remained lodged in my brain for more than 50 years, but apparently it made quite an impression on an eight-year-old who would have preferred to be somewhere else.

I really couldn’t tell you whether this was actually a bad concert. I was too young to remember much of the performance. Looking at what they were playing around that time, I discovered that “Crazy Horses,” probably one of the hardest-rocking songs The Osmonds ever recorded, was part of their show. Maybe eight-year-old me should have paid more attention.

The real problem with having The Osmonds as your first concert doesn’t show up until years later, when someone asks that inevitable question: “What was your first concert?”

Some people my age get to say Cheap Trick. Van Halen. Journey. Maybe even Queen.

Me?

The Osmonds.

Thanks, Mom.

Starship with The Outfield – The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri – July 3, 1986

It was the summer of 1986, and we had just finished our first year of college. A group of us from the KC area headed to St. Louis to visit some college friends for the long Fourth of July weekend. We planned to attend the VP Fair and had plenty of adventures along the way, but one of the more memorable ones started when our friend Liz, whose family we were staying with, won two backstage passes to the Starship and The Outfield concert at The Muny.

I think the tickets actually billed them as Jefferson Starship, but by this point they had already transitioned into the much poppier Starship. I believe tickets were around $12, so we all decided to go. After all, we had backstage passes. What could possibly go wrong?

The Outfield opened and played songs from their first album, Play Deep. “Your Love,” “All the Love” and “Say It Isn’t So” were all part of their short set. They were good, but they only had one album at the time, so there wasn’t a huge catalog to draw from.

I really wasn’t a fan of Starship’s new pop direction, but fortunately for me, a good portion of their set came from the Jefferson Starship years, along with a couple of songs from the Jefferson Airplane era. Those were the parts I enjoyed. I believe they started the show with “We Built This City” and, because apparently once wasn’t enough, ended with it too.

Liz had only won two backstage passes, so we took turns using them. My friend Sam and I went backstage between The Outfield and Starship. Neither of us had ever been backstage at a concert. We were 18-year-old college kids who suddenly had backstage passes and absolutely no idea what the rules were.

We didn’t remain backstage long enough to learn them.

At some point, we saw Grace Slick taking a hit from a bong. Sam and I both yelled, “Share the wealth!”

This did not turn out to be proper backstage etiquette.

We immediately tried to pretend we hadn’t said it, which apparently wasn’t very convincing. Grace Slick was not amused and had us booted from backstage.

So, to recap, my first experience with backstage passes lasted only long enough for me to see Grace Slick with a bong, yell something stupid at her and get thrown out. Luckily, they didn’t take the passes, so our other friends were still able to take their turns. I assume they behaved better than we did.

I’m still not sure whether I was more annoyed that Grace Slick had us kicked out or that the new Starship sucked. Maybe it was a little of both.

The Oak Ridge Boys – Neewollah, Independence, Kansas – October 31, 1992

My wife grew up in Independence, Kansas, home of Neewollah, an annual celebration whose name is simply Halloween spelled backward. The festival dates back to 1919 and was revived in 1958 with the help of Independence native Jim Halsey, who would become one of the biggest names in country-music management.

For years, Neewollah’s Saturday-night concert was a pretty big deal, with Halsey’s connections helping bring nationally known country acts to town. In 1980, HBO even came to Independence to tape a Neewollah concert featuring Roy Clark, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Milsap and Charlie Rich.

So when the Oak Ridge Boys came to Neewollah in 1992, my father-in-law bought the tickets, and the four of us went together: my wife and me, her dad, and the woman we not-so-affectionately called the step witch.

My wife liked country music. I was not a fan, at least not then. Love will make you do crazy things. She was happy to go, and I went begrudgingly.

My wife was pregnant with our daughter, who started kicking like crazy while the Oak Ridge Boys were performing. My wife joked, “She likes them.” I told her I thought she was kicking because she wanted to escape just as badly as I did.

I knew a few Oak Ridge Boys songs, including “Elvira,” “Trying to Love Two Women” and “Bobbie Sue.” What I remember most was Richard Sterban’s incredibly deep bass voice. Whenever he went really low, the women in the audience went crazy. Of course, he’s the one who sings the famous “oom-pa-pa-mow-mow” part in “Elvira.” I didn’t quite understand the appeal, but the women at Neewollah certainly did.

Looking back, it wasn’t a bad performance. The Oak Ridge Boys were good at what they did. It just wasn’t my kind of music. Growing up in a small Kansas town, I heard my fair share of country music. Over the years, I’ve developed a much greater appreciation for it, especially the songs I heard at the Broadway Tavern.

As for our daughter, I’ll let her decide whether all that kicking meant she liked the Oak Ridge Boys or, as I still maintain, was asking us to leave.

Jimmy Buffett – Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs, Kansas – September 30, 1995

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that I’m a Parrothead. So to say this was one of my worst concert experiences has nothing to do with Jimmy Buffett and everything to do with the fact that I was sicker than a dog.

I didn’t care if I had the flu. There was no way I was going to miss a Jimmy Buffett concert.

It was a game-time decision to go to the concert, and I honestly thought I felt better. I hadn’t eaten in days, so I ate a few crackers. Big mistake.

Not sure if it was the flu or my buddy John’s driving, but when we arrived at Sandstone, I immediately jumped out of the car and started puking.

A guy walked past as I was dry heaving and said I’d “partied too hard, too early.” My friends got a kick out of that because I was the only person in our group who wasn’t drinking. If you’ve ever been to a Jimmy Buffett concert, you know there’s a decent chance I was the only sober person in the entire place.

Throughout the concert, I spent most of my time on a blanket eating ice chips. The only time I got up was for Buffett’s tribute to Jerry Garcia, who had died the previous month. During the first encore, he performed “Uncle John’s Band,” and it was fantastic. As soon as it was over, I went right back to my blanket.

So this wasn’t a bad Jimmy Buffett concert at all. I was simply in absolutely no condition to be at a Jimmy Buffett concert.

Hootie & the Blowfish – Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs, Kansas – July 10, 1996

We were heading down Highway 7 at about 70 miles per hour. My pregnant wife was behind the wheel. One guy was about to puke, and two others were fighting in the back of the minivan.

Let’s back up a little.

There were eight of us going to see Hootie & the Blowfish at Sandstone. As it happened, all three women in the group were pregnant. Chrissy and PJ headed out early to get us a good spot. The rest of us had to work until 5, which left my wife driving a minivan full of guys to the concert.

At least that’s the official explanation. I still suspect Chrissy and PJ knew exactly what they were doing.

Either way, we had a designated driver. See? We were being responsible.

Here’s the part that still stings. John Hiatt was the opening act. I appreciate his music now, but in 1996 I had no idea who he was. So my friend Little D and I went to get a beer.

The lines for beer were long, and the bathroom lines were even longer. By the time we got our beers, it was time to get in the bathroom line. Then, naturally, we got back in the beer line. Beer line, bathroom line, beer line, bathroom line.

Eventually, the wives sent Big D to find us.

Instead of bringing us back, he joined us.

We eventually came to our senses and returned just in time for Hootie & the Blowfish. They were great. One of the highlights for my wife was Darius Rucker singing “Mandy.” She’s a big Barry Manilow fan, so that made her night.

After the concert, a guy in the parking lot handed us cigars. My wife wasn’t about to let us smoke them in the minivan, so we hung around the parking lot, smoked our cigars and drank more beer.

In retrospect, this is when the wheels started to fall off.

And this brings us back to Highway 7.

Big D announced that we needed to pull over because he was going to puke. Meanwhile, Bill and Steve had started flicking bottle caps at each other and the rest of us. Before long, the bottle caps turned into a fight in the back of the minivan.

My wife pulled over so we could break up the fight and let Big D puke. We loaded everybody back into the minivan and headed to our house, where Big D puked again in my front yard.

We arrived home considerably later than planned. My sister had been babysitting our three-year-old daughter while we were at the concert. To put it mildly, she was pissed when we finally got home.

Oh, and it was a Wednesday. We all had to work the next day.

Hootie put on a great concert. They weren’t the problem. We were.

The Best

Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band – Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri – April 21, 2012

I almost missed this show. My wife was doing Mom’s Weekend with our daughter, and I didn’t want to go alone.

My buddy Bill called and offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse. Bill had a habit of going to concerts, buying a concert T-shirt, and somehow making it home without the shirt. He offered to pay for my ticket and alcohol if I drove and made sure both he and his new T-shirt made it home safely.

Sounded like a great deal to me, so I took him up on the offer.

We had a few drinks at the Power & Light District before the show and ran into some friends. A Jimmy Buffett tribute band was playing, and the singer had a strong resemblance to Jimmy. The more Bill drank, the more convinced he became that it really was Jimmy.

It was not.

I’m not going to lie. We had quite a few drinks before going into the concert, but I had the whole concert to sober up.

Bill just kept drinking.

Once inside, we headed for the merch stand and both bought T-shirts. He quickly reminded me that my responsibility for the evening was making sure both he and his T-shirt got home. To make sure that happened, I tied the bag to my belt.

The concert was great, as usual. Jimmy played seven of the Big 8, along with songs like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” “Knee Deep.” He also played some songs I hadn’t heard live before, including “Migration,” “The Captain and the Kid,” “The Pascagoula Run” and “Makin’ Music for Money.”

By the end of the night, I had sobered up enough to drive and, more importantly, the mission was accomplished.

Bill made it home safely.

So did his T-shirt.

I went to a few concerts with Bill over the years. Sadly, he passed away. I miss him.

BoDeans – Summerfest, Marcus Amphitheater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – July 2, 1992

I visited my college buddy Bobby in Chicago with plans to go to Summerfest in Milwaukee with our friends Gilly and Troy. We were choosing between seeing Jimmy Buffett or the BoDeans.

I was outvoted 3-1.

The bill was BoDeans with Warren Zevon and Roger McGuinn.

If you’ve ever been to Summerfest, you know there are beer tents everywhere. We got there in the early afternoon and started hitting the beer tents.

At some point, a rainstorm came through and there was a waterspout or some kind of small cyclone out on Lake Michigan. We were told to take shelter in the beer tents. I’m from Kansas and have seen plenty of tornadoes over the years. This thing was small, but you don’t have to tell me twice to take shelter in a beer tent.

We were right up front at the Leinenkugel tent.

After a day of drinking, we headed into the show. We drank a lot, and I have absolutely no recollection of Warren Zevon performing. So either the alcohol had something to do with it or we arrived too late to see him.

I do remember Roger McGuinn. He had recently released Back from Rio, which included his Tom Petty collaboration “King of the Hill.”

The BoDeans were fantastic. They played two of my favorites, “Fadeaway” and “Still the Night.”

If you’ve ever been to the Marcus Amphitheater, you know it has concrete seating. As I mentioned, it had rained, which made the concrete slippery. At one point Bobby slipped, and I managed to catch his head before it hit the concrete.

After the show, everyone was hungry and nearly broke from spending our money on expensive festival beer. We ended up in a small store trying to piece together something filling to eat. We had pretty much resigned ourselves to a loaf of bread and a package of Kraft Singles when Gilly suddenly pulled out his emergency hundred-dollar bill.

“Dammit, we’re getting bacon.”

We ate like kings.

The next morning was another rainy day. On the drive back to Chicago, Bobby’s car hydroplaned and spun out of control across several lanes of traffic. Luckily, traffic was very light and we didn’t hit anything. We came frighteningly close to this becoming a completely different story.

Once the car stopped, the first thing Bobby said to me was, “Don’t tell your wife I almost killed you.”

I didn’t.

For 20 years.

And for the record, Bobby didn’t almost kill me. It wasn’t his fault. We hit a spot where water had pooled on the highway and the car hydroplaned.

Hootie & the Blowfish – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights, Missouri – June 1, 2024

This was the third time we saw Hootie & the Blowfish. The first one is already covered in my worst concert experiences. Then we saw them again with our friends Big D and PJ in St. Louis in 2019.

They weren’t able to join us this time, but we decided to go anyway and splurge on fifth-row seats.

Totally worth it.

One of the things I love about my wife is that we don’t need to be with another couple or even a group to have fun. We make our own fun.

And not every Hootie concert ends with someone puking in my yard.

Before the show, we spent the day checking out breweries in the St. Charles area. So unlike the first Hootie concert, we got our beer drinking out of the way before the show.

The opening acts were Edwin McCain and Collective Soul. Their sets were short, but both were awesome. Edwin didn’t play “Solitude” during his set, but he came back out later and sang it with Hootie.

Edwin was busy that night. He also joined Collective Soul for an AC/DC cover of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”

I had kind of lost touch with Collective Soul over the years and was really excited to reconnect with their music. They played “Shine,” “The World I Know” and “December.” I would have liked to hear “Hollywood,” but with a nine-song set, you’re not going to hear all of your favorites.

Sitting that close, I was able to get a lot of great photos.

Between Collective Soul and Hootie, my wife ran into our friends Mark and Ann. I waved at Mark from our seats, and after the concert we met them at the casino for a late-night snack.

Hootie played a little over 20 songs. It was a shorter set than the other times I’d seen them, but with two opening acts, I wasn’t surprised. My only complaint was that seven of those songs were covers. I would have rather heard a few more Hootie songs.

But they played my favorite, “Hannah Jane,” along with all the hits and a song from their latest album.

We spent the day checking out breweries, sat in the fifth row for three great bands, ran into some friends and ended the night with a late-night snack at the casino. Not a bad way for the two of us to spend a Saturday.

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri – May 5, 2011

I “won” third-row tickets from my DJ friend Slacker. He was a longtime DJ in Kansas City.

We became friends after I was listening to his show one day and he mentioned that he was looking for one of the Rainmakers’ albums on CD. I happened to have an extra copy, so I called him. We eventually started a little side hustle together and became friends.

One of the perks of having a DJ friend was occasionally getting concert tickets. The station was giving away several pairs of tickets to Bob Seger. I didn’t have to be the right caller or answer a trivia question. Slacker just gave my name to the front desk as one of the “winners.”

That’s how I ended up with third-row seats for Bob Seger.

My wife and I had just seen Jimmy Buffett five days earlier, so she wasn’t ready for another concert. I took my 14-year-old son instead. He was just finishing eighth grade.

Frankie Ballard was the opening act. I had never heard of him, and I came away really impressed. Check out “A Buncha Girls” and “Tell Me You Get Lonely.” Fantastic songs. I wouldn’t have guessed he was a country artist from his performance that night. He fit in perfectly with Seger.

I liked him enough that I tracked down his EP on his website after the show.

During the opening act, you could smell the aroma of a certain herb being smoked all around us. My son asked me what it was, and I discreetly told him.

Then Seger came out and blew us away.

Sitting in the third row, I swear there were times when he was looking right at me. His voice sounded great that night, and I’ve always loved Alto Reed on sax.

Seger took a short break between sets. I looked over at my son, and he had a big grin on his face. Either he was really enjoying the concert or he’d gotten his first contact high.

Maybe a little of both.

The second set was just as good as the first. Seger played 25 songs, including some of my favorites: “Mainstreet,” “Roll Me Away,” “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser,” “Turn the Page,” “Against the Wind,” “Hollywood Nights,” “Night Moves” and “Rock and Roll Never Forgets.”

The only thing that could have made it better would have been my favorite Seger song, “Even Now.”

But the best part was looking over and seeing how much my son was enjoying himself. He told me afterward that he’d had a great time. Sharing that concert with him is what made the night memorable for me.

A couple of weeks later, he was at a family wedding with his older sister and their cousin. They were in the parking garage when a familiar aroma came wafting his way.

“Someone’s smoking weed.”

His sister wanted to know how he knew what marijuana smelled like.

I had missed the wedding because of a family commitment, but eventually the story made its way back to my wife.

I guess I forgot to mention that part of the concert to her.

Oops.

Paul McCartney – Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri – July 16, 2014

This was my favorite concert of all time. I had wanted to see Paul McCartney for years, and it never seemed to work out. When I saw he was coming to Kansas City and we could actually go, I immediately bought the tickets. This was another concert that was just my wife and me.

He’s a freakin’ Beatle.

McCartney played for nearly three hours and never took a break. His much younger band took one while he did an acoustic set. His voice had aged, but he still sounded great.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe I was in the same building listening to the guy who actually made all of those Beatles records I’ve spent my whole life listening to. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. This was a bucket-list concert, and he didn’t disappoint.

He played close to 40 songs, and more than half of them were Beatles classics. I also got to hear my favorite solo McCartney song, “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Such a beautiful song.

It gave me chills when he sang “Blackbird,” just Paul and an acoustic guitar. He paid tribute to John Lennon and George Harrison. He rocked out with “Live and Let Die,” and the entire arena sang “Hey Jude.”

He played two encores, with the first one including “Kansas City.” The second ended perfectly with “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.” The final songs from the last album the Beatles recorded. Fitting.

I think I was buzzing for days after this one.

He’s a freakin’ Beatle.

I’m sure there are a few concerts I left off both lists. Maybe that’s another story.

What are your best and worst concert experiences?