Cloaca Melodia

The Haunt, Ithaca, NY.... This was the first concert I ever acted as MC. I hadn't yet gotten over my stage fright, so I was naturally barely shy of crapping my pants prior to the show. I went onstage to introduce FNM, and thankfully, one of my fellow DJs at 'ICB (Kevin Fagen) whooped encouragingly when I announced my name. I brought the band out and retreated to the backstage area to prepare myself for the main event. The RHCPs seemed like ordinary folks when they first arrived backstage. But they began getting ready for their show--they shared a joint with club personnel, put on war paint, and began acting more and more manic. This wasn't making me more relaxed. I was almost relieved when guitarist Hillel Slovak told me, in a manic style consistent with someone on an energy-inducing drug, that they usually don't have stage introductions, only an intro tape. No problem, man. I went back to my seat in the VIP area and enjoyed the extremely, um, manic and loud show. D...

The Haunt, Ithaca, NY.... Fallen Hero was the opening band. I don't remember too much about the show except a lot of slam-dancing (I don't recall having heard the word "moshing" until the early 1990s)...  The Milkmen were touring in support of their album Bucky Fellini.   add your own comments if you were also there!

The Haunt, Ithaca, NY..... About 9 Times was a trio from Texas, I believe from the Dallas area. We played their "Walking Through Elephants" (off the 1985 album Play Jacks ) at WICB, and though I really liked the song I probably wouldn't have gone to the show had fellow DJ Glenn Raucher not talked me into going. When we got to The Haunt, it was so empty we momentarily thought we had the start time wrong and arrived way too early. But no, the band came out soon enough and began their set to less than a dozen audience members. Glenn and I pulled up chairs and sat to watch the show, a novelty since The Haunt had only a few tables with chairs and I rarely, if ever, snagged one for a show. About 9 Times was a trio, featuring brother and sister Wendy and Chris Broadstone and Jim Cocke. Wendy was the flute player/lead singer, Jim was the keyboard player/backing vocalist, and Chris was the drummer. Of course, when I say "drummer" that only gives you a small impression ...

Lynah Rink, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY..... This was one of the best concerts I've ever attended. Me and the people I went with--my girlfriend Alyssa, and Tim and Chris--were all Elvis fans, and we had heard that he was doing a tour with a Spinning Songwheel: audience members would be brought up on stage to spin the wheel, and whatever song it landed on, Elvis would perform. Nick Lowe first came on solo (it was officially called the "Elvis Costello Almost Alone" tour, since it was just Costello and Lowe solo--at least according to the t-shirt I bought), and did a great smattering of his songs. Then Elvis came out, announced "Welcome to my world" and opened an umbrella with a map of the world printed on it. He then launched into "American Without Tears" and a bunch of new songs from the King of America album. After a decent-length set, he departed, came back for an encore with Nick to do a duo version of Lowe's "(What's So Funny ...