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Tuesday
Jul222008

The Ones that Got Away

The other day, Bring Back Glam! reader George posted a couple topic ideas for this site. I think both ideas he posted are phenomenal, but I especially enjoy the topic of the ones that got away. No, we're not talking about dates here - we're talking about concerts.

I think just about everyone has a concert or two they've skipped for whatever reason. Sometimes the concert comes and goes and that's about the end of it - and then other times, missing a certain show creates a lingering sense of longing that will never be satisfied.

A couple years ago, Motley Crue and Aerosmith teamed up for the Route of All Evil tour. You would think - considering Aerosmith and Motley Crue are my favorite bands - that I was in the front row for at least two of these shows. Nope,  I never saw a single stop on this tour. When the Route of All Evil tour swept through Ohio, Heather was sick and my work schedule was switched upside down as a result. Please remember that in 2006, Heather and I were both working at the same television station. In fact, this is how we met. Anyway, Heather was an overnight producer and I was dayside. Anyone that has worked in a television station knows that the graveyard shift is the hardest to fill. When Heather was out for her operation, I got the overnight shift for six weeks. This meant no shows during that time...and yes, that included the Route of All Evil tour. I was happy to help Heather cover her shift - in fact, she would call in the middle of the night and we would chat quite a lot. I've always regretted not seeing the double headline bill of Aerosmith and Motley Crue. No, my life didn't end because I missed this tour - but I do think it had a profound impact on me as a music fan. If you've read this website for any number of days, you know I am fanatical about concerts. I try not to miss a single show. I wasn't as rigid about this in the past - but after missing Route of All Evil, it sort of dawned on me that life is finite and we better do as much as we can to live it up!

So...what are your shows that got away and why?


While you write, here's Aerosmith performing "Back in the Saddle" on the Route of All Evil tour.


Reader Comments (28)

Hi Allyson...Great article...I saw Motley Crue on every tour..but one..and you'll never believe which one...the shout at the devil tour where they opened for Ozzy..I had the ticket and everything all ready to go with my friends and we had 3rd row seats...Then my guidance counselor calls my house 2 days before the show telling my parents i have been skipping school...I was busted for skipping a month ago also..so I was lying to my parents telling them I was going to school when I wasn't. So to punish me my dad said give the ticket to someone at school. So I gave it to my friend Chris who didn't have a ticket...I was so pissed off..but now I look back..I deserved it..I miss the fact that I didn't get to see the Crue on their first tour..but my friend Mark took some cool pics of the show and I have them till this day in my scrapbook =)
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJoe
I think you know, but I saw them on the route of all evil in San Fran.

Concerts that got away:

Queensryche doing all of Mindcrime 1 and 2, Suicidal Tendences, The Angels, WASP ( all because they were in Australia and I was in the US ). I am missing RTB for the same reason. I have tickets to two judas priest shows in AU and will probably be in the US, I am trying to plan a US trip to go to Metal Masters so I see them that way. All I need is someone to go with me......
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterChristian
shoot, and I'm still mad I missed Motley when they came to NC just a few weeks ago. sooo chances are I'm not gonna see them this tour...I'm holding out hope they come back around this way again next year :-)
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterr0ck0n
It was the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan in 2006 I believe. It was a Wednesday night and I didn't go because I live and work about 2 hours away but it was Endeverafter, Poison and Cinderella for less than $30 a ticket. I have seen Poison many times but its Cinderella I fear I will never get to see. I can't even count how many times I passed up seeing Cinderella only to finally get good seats for their latest tour which we all know how that ended.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMary
1) Kip Winger, solo, Norfolk VA, 1998. I found out about this one the day AFTER the show. My co-worker tried to reassure me by saying "We could have switched shifts!" ;)

2) Genesis, 2008. Never seen them, missed them again.

3) Bon Jovi, all tours. They never seem to come near me anymore.

4) Eagles, all tours. They did come to Richmond, but we were flat broke at the time.

5) Winger, 1987-1992, 2007-2008. I would have loved to see them in the 'glory days' of the 80's & 90's, but I was responsible for my grandmother, so I couldn't go then. 2007-2008, they've never come near home. Closest was about a 4-6 hour drive.

6) Police, all tours. They did come to Charlottesville, but see above note about being broke.

7) Night Ranger, all tours. Sigh.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterChessie
I'm Just Mad Cruefest isn't coming to the Georgia area!
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMotleyCrue666
THE CURE - I CRASH MY CAR THAT MORNING BUT HEY IT WAS THE CURE SO IT WASNT VERY SERIOUS
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterALEXX
Glad you liked the idea! I'd say one of the big ones that got away from me too was the Aerosmith/Motley tour. There were actually a few shows around that time I missed but for good reason...my wife & I were about to have our first child. So I figured I should stick close to home and not be rocking out in case I got the call. Besides that tour there were some good ones in my area around that time including Billy Idol at a small club. I also missed many good glam concerts that came to my small town growing up but that was more a case of being to young to go as opposed to making a decision not to go. I remember being bummed in junior high missing Kiss/Slaughter/Winger on the "Hot in the Shade" tour but I've since seen Kiss on their reunion tour (with all 4 originals as opposed to just Gene and Paul on the "Shade" tour) and I saw Winger last summer.

This summer my area (Minnesota) isn't getting many good shows so there aren't any that are 'getting away.' I'd love to see Crue Fest, Def Lep/Idol, or even Poison with Bach but they're all skipping the Twin Cities. We are getting Scorpions with LA Guns at a smaller club but the ticket prices our too outrageous for me (the cheapest is $50).
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterGeorge
Oh....I just remembered too hearing my Dad always talk about a big one that got away from him. When he was a teen he could have seen Jimi Hendrix as an opener for the Monkees but Jimi wasn't as well known yet and he couldn't stand the Monkees. I think those are probably the hardest ones, when someone passes away because you know you ain't seeing them then. Even if a band breaks up you know there's a chance they'll reunite someday (like Van Halen) but you can't do much with a dead rocker.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterGeorge
Wow...Route of all Evil was my first show, and I didnt even know who Motley was! Aerosmith was my favorite band at the time.

I think I've seen just about every show I've wanted to, but then again I'd always like to go to Rocklahoma...
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMakel
This is a very cool topic.....but also one that stings!

I'm a diehard KISS fan and back in '92/'93 they were touring for REVENGE. I got a call at work from my best friend (and he still is today) saying that he had a line on free tickets for the show that night in Worcester, MA.

Let me set the stage here: I was 20 and working at my first real full-time gig.....the money basically paid for college and my car. It wasn't a great paying job but it was full-time with good benefits. This was a job I wanted to keep until school was over so ducking out for a concert could have cost me my job.

The other thing was that I was lucky enough to catch the band on their club tour that came before the album's release and the proper tour. So I told my buddy that I couldn't go, I had to work.

I get a call from my friend the next day and he let me have it! He had heard from a guy we went to high school with and this guy's brother owned the catering company that was servicing the show. My buddy got in with a full access pass to the show! He was hanging out backstage and quickly met Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, at some buffet, and then watched the show from the VIP seats in the front! Basically this would have been my dream come true but I had no idea that was the deal. Had I known, you could have bet that I would have left work!

To this day, my friend never lets me forget, especially when I'm on the fence about going to a show or a game.

Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/
I actually saw this Aerosmith/Crue tour at Riverbend (Cincinnati). Tickets were astronomical. I remember them being like 150.00 a ticket (for bad seats).

A lot of people were disappointed as Aeromsith played a lot of their older cuts that newer fans were unfamiliar with.

The sound was pretty bad from my seats, but I am sure it was good if your seats were in the middle.

I wont ever pay for tickets in section 900 again.

I recall that Tommy Lee didn't do a drum solo. That is something that is usually a staple at Crue shows. I was disappointed for the most part.
Here is one that I regret missing. Rocklahoma 2007, Quiet Riot. I would have loved to have seen Quiet Riot one more time before Kevin Dubrow died. (R.I.P. Kevin!)
I missed Lou Reed in Stockholm the tickets were really expensive.

Well my friends dad missed a great show, the Beatles the second and the last time they were in Sweden, because he had to go somewere with his mom.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered Commentervince
i know this is off topic but did any of you hear about joe elliot bashing Poison & Mötley
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered Commentercrüe düde
Hey Christian, not to brag, but I got to see Suicidal open for Queensryche, and Q did mindcrime 1 start to finish....best show ever.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterTroy
God, I've had a ton of "dude, you wouldn't believe who was just here..."

I missed Prince on the Purple Rain Tour. A friend of mine had 2nd row tickets and I was a big Prince fan at the time... I was dressed and ready to go... and waited... and waited... and waited... got stood up. I found out the next day that my friend had had a car accident.

It wasn't a concert but years ago I was staying with a friend and came home to find out that I'd JUST missed - by literally minutes - Stevie Ray Vaughn sitting in the living room.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterValentine
The last time Winger came through Cincinnati, they played at Whiskey Dick's. I had the directions printed from Mapquest, and was going to be there in plenty of time to see Kip and Reb rip it up...but Mapquest wanted me to go the wrong way down one-way streets and had me turning right where there was no right turn...everyone I stopped to ask where the venue was had no clue...I finally gave up and went home. I have not been to Mapquest since. Google reigns supreme for me now.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterJT
I fully regret not going to go see The Peppermint Creeps in Chilocothe, Ohio "about 2 hours from my house" a few months back. Their drummer, Traci Michaelz, passed away less than a week later. That really sucks.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterKenny Ozz
I've missed several concerts and tours that I wish I could've seen. Most recently, was Sammy Hagar. He was playing right in Muskegon, Michigan at Heritage Landing...only about 10 minutes away from where I live, and I was planning to go. But, I had to use my money for other things that my family needed.
July 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenteraXe mAn

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