1. Fleetwood Mac—Dallas, Texas; Reunion Arena, “Tusk” tour. Had obscured view seats and it still remains my favorite concert.
2. INXS—Richmond, Virginia; The Mosque. “Kick” tour. The only band I can remember actually sounding better live than on their albums.
3. The Police—Austin, Texas; Frank Erwin Center. “Ghost in the Machine” tour. In my opinion they went down from there.
4. Jackson Browne #2—San Antonio, Texas; I forget the venue. “Lives in the Balance” tour. Politically edgy.
5. Elvis Costello #1—Austin; Austin Country Club. Very, very cool live.
6. Adam Ant—San Antonio; The Majestic Theatre. “Vive Le Rock” tour. Absolutely the loudest show I’ve ever experienced. Ears were still ringing the next afternoon.
7. B-52’s #2—Little Rock, Arkansas; The Riverfront Amphitheater. The kids and I were standing together at the front of the stage. Very cool experience.
8. The Pretenders—Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Opened for the B-52’s and, of course, were just as good.
9. Jackson Browne #1—Austin; Erwin Center. The “Hold On, Hold Out” tour. He was still playing big arenas at that point.
10. The Bus Boys—San Antonio; Laurie Auditorium, Trinity University. Best known from the “48 Hours” soundtrack, they opened for the Stray Cats and were way, way better.
11. Al Stewart—San Antonio; forget the venue. Way past his glory days, but a real treat.
12. Karla Bonoff—Little Rock; Piano Center. A very intimate concert.
13. Elvis Costello #2—Austin; Austin Country Club. Knew every song.
14. Bob Seger #1—Austin, Erwin Center. “Hollywood Nights” had just come out and he had been on the cover of Rolling Stone.
15. Jackson Browne #3—Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Shawn Colvin opened.
16. LL Cool J—Little Rock; Riverfest. Old school!
17. Ho Hum—Little Rock/North Little Rock; Various venues. Knowing members of this Arkansas-based group makes the shows more enjoyable. Very accessible stuff.
18. Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit—Austin; Austin Country Club. Opened for Elvis Costello. Very nice set.
19. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band—Austin; Erwin Center. Though not one of my all-time favorite acts it was certainly a great show, full of energy.
20. Willy Nelson—San Antonio; Hemisfair Arena. Actually heard him perform several numbers while I was part of the crowd for his movie “Honeysuckle Rose.”
21. Smash Mouth—Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. One of those shows where you don’t realize how much of their music you know until you hear them play it all.
22. Bob Seger #2—North Little Rock; Verizon Arena. Good performances of most of his hits.
23. Squeeze—Austin; Austin Country Club. Opened for Elvis Costello. Very cool vibe.
24. Billy Squire—San Antonio; Hemisfair Arena. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this show. Another one where I had no idea how much of his music I knew until I heard him play.
25. Dave Matthews Band—North Little Rock; Dickey Stephens Park. I’m not real familiar with their music, but this was a very good show.
26. Bo Diddley—San Antonio; can’t remember the venue. Played with a group of local musicians so it wasn’t great, but it was a thrill to get to hear him.
27. Ringo Starr—Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. One of his “All Starrs” tours. The only former Beatle I’ve ever seen.
28. Lloyd Cole and the Commotion—Austin; forget the venue. A mostly Scottish band who had a few minor hits on MTV. Got to meet them after the show and found them to be very affable.
29. Gregg Allman—North Little Rock; Dickey Stephens Park. Opened for Dave Matthews Band and later performed “Melissa” as a part of the DMB set. Great blues and rock.
30. Thompson Twins—San Antonio; Laurie Auditorium. This was very early in their career so there were none of the later hits. But it was a crazy show with a lot of energy.
31. B-52’s #1—Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Good show, but we were seated way in the back and didn’t get in on any of the energy.
32. Joan Jett––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Late in her career, but it was a lot of fun.
33. David LaMotte—Little Rock; Westover Hills Presbyterian Church. A great guitarist/singer/songwriter. Check him out on Youtube. Also he’s a Presbyterian, which is worth a lot of points in my book.
34. Dan Fogelberg—Austin; Erwin Center. I thought I would hate this show (only went to take pictures for my college newspaper). But it turned out to be a pretty good show.
35. Elton John––Austin; Erwin Center. A surprisingly disappointing concert. There were a bunch of hits he didn’t play, but his encore was “Get Up and Dance.” Yuck. Plus Nigel Olsson was the drummer on the tour and he did a set of songs like “Dancing Shoes.” Yuck, yuck. Still, we’re talking Elton John.
36. Sheila E.––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Part of Ringo’s All Starrs. She did a great job on percussion for the band and then took a set of her own songs, like “Glamorous Life.”
37. The Members—San Antonio; Laurie Auditorium. Opened for the Thompson Twins and had one hit called “I’m In Love With a Working Girl.”
38. Rush—San Antonio; Hemisfair Arena. “Moving Pictures” Tour. The only backstage pass I’ve ever had which made it fun. But this was never one of my favorite bands.
39. Paul Carrack––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Another of Ringo’s All Starrs he covered several Squeeze numbers and “How Long Has This Been Going On” which he recorded with Ace.
40. Shawn Colvin––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Opened for Jackson Browne and did the obligatory high harmony on “Load Out/Stay.” Not someone I was familiar with, but a good show.
41. Colin Hay––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. Yet another of Ringo’s All Starrs. He covered several Men At Work numbers as a part of the show.
42. Marshall Tucker Band—Little Rock; Riverfest. Well past their prime, but a good show.
43. Ice House—San Antonio; forget the venue. This was well before they went top 40. My friend David Arthur and I had an interview with them before the show which helped. Plus it was my birthday.
44. Billy Burnett—Dallas; Reunion Arena. Opened for Fleetwood Mac on the “Tusk” tour. Had one big hit at the time, “Toeing the Line.”
45. John Waite––Little Rock; Riverfront Amphitheater. One more of Ringo’s All Starrs. He covered his own music plus some Babys tunes.
46. Georgia Satellites––Little Rock; Riverfest. Way, way past their prime, but still a fun show.
47. Gym Class Heroes––Little Rock; Riverfest. Not someone I would have sought out, but they were on the same stage as LL Cool J, and “Cupid’s Chokehold” was a hit at the time.
48. The Stray Cats—San Antonio; Laurie Auditorium. Very disappointing. In fact, The Bus Boys opened and in my opinion stole the show. But these guys did have some unforgettable songs.
49. Yes—San Antonio; Hemisfair Arena. Not a very good show, either. It was a strange lineup including the guys from the Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star”) so I’m not sure it really qualifies as Yes. But they covered the classics pretty well.
50. Michael Murphy—San Antonio; Laurie Auditorium. “Wild Fire” was the only song I knew, but I got to interview him after the show and he told me he expected to see me writing for Rolling Stone someday. (He was wrong).
