One of my favorite concerts was the Allman Brothers in '69 or '70. I grew up about 10 miles from them so they were local heroes and tickets were hard to come by. The concert was in Sarasota's "Purple Cow", a (at the time) large auditorium. There were no permanent seats, and the folding seating had been removed so everyone sat on the floor and somehow aligned in rows along where the seats would normally be. Security was positioned at each of the doors, but was otherwise invisible.

The band started playing and the smoke started to rise. It seemed like I was the only person in the place that wasn't carrying, but it didn't matter. The protocol of the day was that you'd light up, take a toke, and pass it down. Sometimes you'd have joints being passed to you from both sides simultaneously.

I'm still not sure if I was more impressed by the concert or law enforcement's complete disregard for a bunch of kids openly defying the drug laws like they did.

 

My first concert was Boston in Augusta, Maine. I didn't have permission to go so it felt even more awesome!

 

My first was Pure Prairie League and Marshall Tucker band.
Providence Civic Center.

 

I'd go see the Pure Prairie League, but I'd go out of my way to see Marshall Tucker!

My musical idol has always been Eric Clapton and I've long considered him the best guitar player of my lifetime. Saw him and Steve Winwood in Omaha about 10 years go. The two guys have been life-long friends, often played and jammed together, and it showed. They'd alternate between Clapton and Winwood songs and looked like they were genuinely having fun! Their encore was, of course "Cocaine". It was hilarious watching a bunch of 50 and 60 something former hippies simultaneously light up as the song started, and watching the cloud rise to the top of the arena!

 

Jethro Tull

Sitting on a park bench
Eyeing little girls with bad intent
Snot's running down his nose
Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
Hey, Aqualung
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run
Hey, Aqualung
Feeling like a dead duck
Spitting out pieces of his broken luck
Oh, Aqualung
Sun streaking cold
An old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog-end
Goes down to the bog and warms his feet
Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
You poor old sod
You see, it's only me
Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
When the ice that clings on to your beard
Was screaming agony
And you ****** your rattling last breaths
With deep-sea diver sounds
And the flowers bloom
Like madness in the spring
Sun streaking cold
An old man wandering lonely
Taking time the only way he knows
Leg hurting bad as he bends to pick a dog-end
He goes down to the bog
And warms his feet
Woh-o-o-oh
Feeling alone
The army's up the road
Salvation a la mode and a cup of tea
Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
You poor old sod
You see, it's only me
Me-ee-eeh, o-o-o-oh
Dee dee dee dee
Dee dee, dee dee, dee dee
Dee dee dee, dee dee dee
Dee dee, dee dee
Aqualung, my friend
Don't you start away uneasy
Oh, you poor old sod
You see, it's only me
Sitting on a park bench
Eying little girls with bad intent
Snot's running down his nose
Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
Hey, Aqualung
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run
Hey, Aqualung
Feeling like a dead duck
Spitting out pieces of his broken luck
Hey, Aqualung
Wo-o-o-o-oh, Aqualung

 

Agreed. I don't want to write down all the lyrics, but the list grows when I think of it all in my head.
Love everything on Springsteen's 'I'm On Fire' and Nightwish "Islander"
The end of 'Night's in White Satin' (FM version)
Gary US Bonds line "Son, what do you do? I need a job, I'm out of work"
There are many more, but I would rather read the list.

 

Was on the road for hours today. Heard 'Saturday in the Park' by Chicago. One of my favorite feel good songs, especially the lyric "A proud man still can tell stories his own way."

 

The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band

 

Ballad of the Uneasy Rider by Charlie Daniels. It makes me smile every time I hear that. We played the hell out of that song, probably on 8 track or maybe cassette. CDB, the Outlaws, Lynard Skynard, Marshall Tucker, Elvin Bishop, and the obligatory Deep Purple & Led Zeppelin.

I was takin a trip out to L.A.
Toolin' along in my Cheverolet
Tokin on a number and diggin on the radio

Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
I heard that highway start to whine
And I knew that left rear tire was about to blow

 

"Whiskey bottles, brand new car, oak tree you're n my way.
Too much coke, too much smoke, look what's going on inside you.
Ooh that smell...
Lynard Skynard. "That Smell."
I was reminded of that song about 3AM Sunday when someone hit an oak tree diagonally across the street from our house. Fortunately the guy wasn't injured but his car was upside down and, judging from the smell & our conversation, pretty sure he went to jail afterwards. It was on the very same stretch of road that the real life event that spawned the song happened. Band member Gary Rossington had crashed his car into one of the oaks. There are several memorials along this residential road where people have met their demise by colliding with these immovable objects. Yet, people continue to haul *** down this road defying the 30 mph speed limit.

 

Just yesterday, I learned that the Doobies are still touring and that they were in Jacksonville LAST MONTH! They're slated to return to Jax in June '22. They're in Nashville in October, but that conflicts with my high school's 50 year reunion. (Tough call, though...)