Concert Ticket Stubs - Part 2 - The 1980s: Springsteen, Prince, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughan & more

Looking back at old concert ticket stubs, the 1980s were my heyday – prices were low, I had time (no kids), and tickets weren’t that hard to secure. Despite misguided perms (mine) & neon stretch pants (David Lee Roth’s), the 80s still packed a wallop.

Start with Van Halen on April 13, 1980 for $9.50, David Lee Roth belting out “Running With the Devil” & “Dance the Night Away”. I wasn’t that into Van Halen, but my boyfriend & his buddies were, so I tagged along. Glad I did- how many times do you get to see a 25 year old Eddie Van Halen, guitar virtuoso of the 1980s, tackle the intricate “Spanish Fly” live?

1980 brought David Byrne solo, and again with the Talking Heads, this time at a larger venue, Northrup Auditorium. I particularly enjoyed their new hit, the swirling “Once in a Lifetime” from the “Remain in Light” release:

Letting the days go by, into the silent water

Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

You may ask yourself, What is that beautiful house?

You may ask yourself, Where does that highway lead to?

You may ask yourself, Am I right or am I wrong?

And you may say to yourself, my god, what have I done?

Letting the days go by..

Time isn’t holding us, time isn’t after us,

Time isn’t holding us, time doesn’t hold you back.

For the second time, I caught the Rolling Stones, November 21, 1981, the Tattoo You tour featuring “Start Me Up” and “Waiting on a Friend”. The price is torn off, but I can see that it started with a ‘1’; we were incensed that ticket prices were approaching twenty dollars for the big acts.

This was the beginning of those over-the-top mega tours, with giant helium blow up ‘girls’ flanking the stage and Mick Jagger foisted on the audience in a giant cherry picker. Though I enjoyed the show, I remember wishing I’d been old enough to catch the Stones in 1969 or ’72 when personal showmanship plus the soulful lead guitar of Mick Taylor were all they needed.

The Who (October 3, 1982), announced their “Farewell” tour and nailed classics “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley” plus current hits “Athena” & “Eminence Front” from ‘It’s Hard’. Townshend, Daltry & Entwistle were always more powerful live than on vinyl.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (June 29, 1984) was the massive ‘Born in the USA’ tour where Brian DePalma filmed two takes of Bruce pulling Courtney Cox up onstage to dance for the video “Dancing in the Dark”. Yes, we were there, all for a mere $15. Bruce gave every show his all, playing longer than three hours, until his audience was as invigorated & exhausted as he was. Hard to believe Clarence Clemmons’ sax will play no more.

Caught an eclectic mix of shows at the now-defunct Carlton Celebrity Room: a fairly young (34) Jay Leno in ’84, The Monkees’ 20^th anniversary tour in ’86, and Sammy Davis Jr. in ’89. I still remember the ‘ancient’ middle aged women shouting out “We love you Sammy!” in the cozy dinner club, & thinking ‘Please don’t let that be me’..

Christmas Eve, 1984: I wasn’t shopping or singing carols in front of the fire, I was at the Purple Rain Tour where Prince & the Revolution gave us “Little Red Corvette”, “When Doves Cry”, and “1999”. It was local boy made good and it was a celebration.

They say never buy the first model year of a car; also, never attend that first concert staged in a fledgling venue. At the puffy, new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome acoustics hadn’t been worked out and sitting in the stratosphere we could only watch in frustration as Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia with The Grateful Dead, and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers supposedly put on a fine show June 26, 1986. Well at least it was only 20 bucks.

Why I saw The Monkees again, August 30, 1987, at the State Fair with Weird Al Yankovic, I can’t say. But I do recall Al’s hits like “Living with a Hernia” and “Eat It” were pretty funny.

I closed out 1987 with U2's Joshua Tree Tour. Seated in the balcony, close to the stage, I reveled in the Edge’s moody guitar work & Bono’s blistering vocals on “Trip Through Your Wires”, “In God’s Country”, & “Bad”. Luckily, someone has documented all of U2’s tours, shows, & set lists (U2gigs.com). It is an astonishing pace: in the Joshua Tree tour alone, U2 played 29 shows in the US, 30 in Europe, and then another 50 in the US. Mine was their 89^th show of the tour, November 4, 1987.

Saw Canadian jazz/blues guitarist Jeff Healey March 29, 1989 at the Guthrie Theater. Perched on a stool with his guitar across his lap, the blind Healey made that 1985 Fender Squier Stratocaster sing. It was an intimate venue for a truly unique performance. Jeff Healey, who had lost his vision at 8 months old due to cancer, died in 2008 of cancer at age 41.

Summer of ’89 at the outdoor Riverfest on St. Paul’s Harriet Island, brought two legends in one week: Sunday, July 30, 1989, Austin, Texas’ bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan and four days later, Minnesota’s own Bob Dylan (Thursday, August 3, 1989). Each show was five dollars.

Stevie, having finally kicked his addictions, was celebrating his new release “In Step” which included “Crossfire” and the wistful “Life by the Drop”. I always loved Stevie's version of Hendrix's 'Little Wing'. Vaughan died the next summer, August 26, 1990, after performing with Eric Clapton at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin, when, amidst fog, Stevie's helicopter crashed into a nearby ski slope. Stevie Ray Vaughan was 35.

Finally, I closed out the 80’s with my third and final Rolling Stones concert, November 29, 1989. This was the “Steel Wheels” tour with their hit “Mixed Emotions”. I guess I had them too, because I didn’t bother the next time the Stones came to town.

Though I missed many great acts of the 80’s, I certainly saw my share of talent. The only place to go from here is the 1990s, subject of my next hub. Hope to see you there.